973.71     Leonard  W.  Volk. 

D74WV      The  History  of  the 

Douglas  Monument  at 

Chicag°-    (1880) 


IN'O^  HISTORICAL  SURVEY 


HISTORY 


DOUGLAS    MONUMENT 


AT   CHICAGO; 


PREFACED  WITH  A 


BRIEF  SKETCH  OF  SENATOR  DOUGLAS'  LIFE, 


ttfustrotions  of  tfic  jftontimcnt,  etc. 


LEONARD  W.  VOLK, 

SCULPTOR,    AND    DESIGNER    OF   THB    MONUMENf, 


CHICAGO  i 
THE  CHICAGO  LEGAL  NEWS  COMPANY, 

1880- 


-URVEtf 


COPYRIGHT, 

LEONARD  "W.  VOLK, 

A.  D.  1880. 


STEREOTYPED  AND  PRINTED 


THE   CHICAGO    LEGAL    NEWS    COMPANY. 


DOUGLAS    MONUMENT. 


STATUE  SURMOUNTING  THE   MONUMENT. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 


Death  of  Senator  Douglas,  with  a  brief  Sketch  of  his  Life     .  3 

The  Resting-place  of  Douglas 9 

Letter  of  Mrs.  Adele  Douglas  to  L.  W.  Volk      ...  10 

Meeting  to  organize  the  Monument  Association         .         .  11 

Articles  of  Association,  with  Signatures        ....  13 

Meeting  of  Monument  Association  and  Election  of  Trustees  16 

Trustees'  Appeal  to  the  People  in  behalf  of  Monument         .  18 

Act  to  Incorporate  the  Douglas  Monument  Association     .  21 

Circular  addressed  to  Legislature  by  Executive  Committee  .  24 

Advertisement  for  Designs  for  Monument          ...  25 

Adoption  by  Trustees  of  Leonard  W.  Volk's  Design     .        .  26 

Bill  for  Appropriation  to  Purchase  Ground        ...  26 

Report  of  Legislative  Proceedings  thereon  ....  27 

Letter  of  Gov.  Oglesby  to  Mrs.  Douglas  ....  28 

Report  of  Doings  of  the  Association 29 

Mrs.  Douglas'  Deed  to  State  of  Illinois     ....  31 
Laying  of  the  Corner-stone  —  Letter  of  Invitation  to  and 

Reply  of  Secretary  Seward 34 

Comments  of  the  "  Chicago  Times "      .         .         .         .         .36 

Letter  from  Gov.  Oglesby 39 

Explanatory  Letter  of  Secretary  of  Association    ...  40 
Dispatch  from  Secretary  Seward        .....  44 
Correspondence  between  Superintendent  Swinyard  and  Sec- 
retary Seward 45 

Articles  deposited  under  Corner-stone  .....  46 

The  Presidential  Party  at  Laying  of  Corner-stone     .         .  47 

Chief  Marshal's  Order  of  Arrangements       ....  48 

(1) 


2  CONTENTS. 

"  New  York  Herald's  "  Account  of  the  Journey  of  the  Presi- 
dent to  Chicago  and  Ceremonies  at  the  Grave    .         .  51 

Oration  of  Gen.  John  A.  Dix 64 

Speech  of  President  Johnson 82 

Speech  of  Secretary  Seward 83 

Receipts  at  Laying  of  Corner-stone       .....  85 

Remains  deposited  in  Sarcophagus    .....  86 

Meeting  of  Board  of  Trustees 87 

Letter  of  Mrs.  Williams,  formerly  Mrs.  Douglas        .         .  89 

Financial  Statement  submitted  to  Legislature       ...  89 

Bill  for  Removal  of  Monument 90 

Bill  to  Appropriate  $50,000  to  Complete  Monument,  1875    .  92 

Bill  to  Appropriate  150,000  as  finally  passed,  1877    .         .  93 

Passage  of  the  Appropriation         ......  94 

Speech  of  Hon.  Joseph  E.  Smith  in  House  of  Representatives  99 

Passage  of  House  Bill  in  Senate    ......  109 

Meeting  of  the  Monument  Commission      ....  110 

Agreement  between  Commissioners  and  Leonard  W.  Volk    .  112 

Proposals  for  Granite  Work 113 

Agreement  for  Colossal  Statue  of  Douglas    .         .         .         .114 
Unveiling  of  Statue  and  Remarks  of  Judge  Caton    .         .  115 
Agreement  for  four  symbolical  Statues,  representing  "  Illi- 
nois," "  History,"  "  Justice  "  and  "  Eloquence  "  .         .  116 
Bill  to  Appropriate  $9,000  Additional  to  Complete  Monu- 
ment, passed  1879 118 

Agreement  for  four  Bas-reliefs     .        .        .         .         .         .119 

Description  and  Dimensions  of  Monument  as  Completed, 

with  Cost  of  same    ...                 .  120 


HISTOKY    OF 
THE    DOUGLAS   MONUMENT. 


DEATH     OF    SENATOK    DOUGLAS,    AS    ANNOUNCED    IN    THE   CHICAGO 
TRIBUNE   JUNE  4,  1861. 

STEPHEN  ARNOLD  DOUGLAS,  Senator  in  Congress  from  Illinois, 
died  at  the  Tremoiit  House,  in  this  city,  on  Monday  morning,  at 
ten  minutes  past  nine  o'clock,  after  a  painful  illness  of  somewhat 
more  than  a  month. 

The  subject  of  the  deep  and  universal  grief  which  shrouds  our 
streets,  was  born  at  Brandon,  Rutland  county,  Vermont,  April  23d, 
1813.  From  the  rooms  of  the  Chicago  Historical  Society,  we  ob- 
tain the  following  interesting  facts  in  his  genealogy,  extending 
back  to  the  seventh  generation,  and  beginning  with  the  first  rep- 
resentative of  the  family  in  America: 

First  Generation.  Mr.  William  Douglas,  of  Boston,  Massachusetts,  A.  D. 
1640.  Married  Aun,  daughter  of  Thomas  Mable,  of  Kingstead,  Northamp- 
tonshire, England.  The  birth  of  their  son  William  is  recorded  at  Boston,  as 
the  "  1  (2)  1645,"  i.  e.  March  1,  1645.  The  family  afterwards  removed  and 
settled  at  New  London,  Conn.,  where  Mr.  William  Douglas  was  one  of  the  lead- 
ing men  of  the  colony,  deacon  of  the  church,  representative  in  the  colonial 
legislature  in  1672,  and  during  King  Philip's  Indian  War  was  appointed  com- 
missary of  the  army.  The  following,  from  Gov.  Bradstreet's  journal,  gives  the 
dafe  of  his  death:  "  1682,  July  26th,  Mr.  William  Douglas,  one  of  ye  deacons 
of  this  church,  died  in  ye  72d  year  of  his  age.  He  was  an  able  Christian,  and 
this  poor  church  will  much  miss  him." 

Second  Generation.  His  son,  William  Douglas,  born  as  above,  married,  De- 
cember 18th,  1667,  Abiah  Hough,  daughter  of  Mr.  William  Hough,  of  New 
London,  Conn.,  (who  was  a  son  of  Edward  Hough,  of  West  Chester,  Cheshire, 
England,)  by  whom  he  had  two  sons  and  five  daughters.  . 

Third  Generation.  Of  these  sons  the  oldest,  William  Douglas,  was  born  April 
19th,  1672,  and  removed  to  Plainfield,  Conn.,  where  he  was  a  deacon  in  the 
church.  By  his  wife,  Sarah,  he  had  eight  sons  and  three  daughters. 

Fourth  Generation.  The  youngest  of  these  children  was  Asa  Douglas,  born 
Dec.  llth,  1715.  Asa  Douglas,  by  his  wife  Eebecca,  had  seven  sons  and  six 
daughters.  He  died  Nov.  12th,  1792. 

Fifth  Generation.  The  twelfth  child  of  Asa  and  Rebecca  Douglas  was  Bena- 
jah  Douglas,  born  May  10th,  1762.  He  married  Patty  Arnold,  daughter  of 
Stephen  Arnold,  Esq. 

(3) 


HISTORY   OF   THE 

Sixth  Generation.  The  father  of  our  late  Senator  was  Stephen  Arnold  Doug- 
las, son  of  Benojah  and  Patty  Douglas,  as  above.  He  was  born  in  the  State  of 
New  York,  and  was  a  physician  of  considerable  repute.  He  died  suddenly  of 
apoplexy,  in  1813,  when  his  son  (Stephen  Arnold)  was  only  two  months  old. 

It  appears  from  this  interesting  recital  that  Senator  Douglas 
came  of  distinguished  Puritan  stock.  The  indomitable  energy  ot 
his  character,  and  the  iron  will  which  made  him  always  a  master 
of  circumstances,  mark  him  a  lineal  descendant  of  the  Mayflower. 

Brought  up  on  a  farm  under  his  mother's  care,  and  receiving  a 
common  school  education,  he  desired,  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  to  pre- 
pare for  college.  His  family  being  unable  to  defray  the  expense, 
he  left  the  farm  and  apprenticed  himself  to  a  cabinet  maker  at 
Middlebury,  where  he  labored  a  year  and  a  half.  He  then  entered 
an  academy  at  Brandon,  where  he  studied  another  year.  His 
mother  having  married  Mr.  Granger  of  Ontario  Co.,  N.  Y.,  Stephen 
removed  with  her  to  Canandaigua  where  he  entered  another  acad- 
emy. He  remained  at  Canandaigua  two  years  and  a  half,  study- 
ing law  at  the  same  time  that  he  acquired  his  academical  educa- 
tion. In  the  spring  of  1833,  he  came  west  to  find  an  eligible  place 
to  practice  law,  going  successively  to  Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Louis- 
ville, St.  Louis  and  Jacksonville,  111.  At  Jacksonville  he  found 
himself  reduced  to  his  last  shilling,  and  went  on  foot  to  Winches- 
tor  (Scott  county)  to  get  employment  as  a  school  teacher,  taking 
with  him  a  few  law  books  with  which  to  perfect  himself  in  his 
chosen  profession.  Obtaining  s!x  dollars  for  three  days'  work  as 
clerk  to  an  auctioneer  he  hired  a  room  and  opened  a  school,  teach- 
ing by  day,  studying  by  night  and  practicing  before  justices  of  the 
peace  on  Saturday  afternoons.  In  March,  1834,  he  opened  an  of- 
rice  for  law  business,  and  was  so  successful  that  before  the  expira- 
tion of  the  year,  he  was  chosen  Attorney  General  of  the  state  by 
the  Legislature.  He  resigned  the  office  shortly  afterwards  and  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  Legislature  from  Morgan  county.  His 
rise  from  that  time  to  the  present  was  brilliant  and  rapid,  and,  un- 
til betrayed  by  the  Southern  leaders  for  whom  he  had  done  so 
much,  marked  by  hardly  a  single  defeat. 

In  1837  he  was  appointed  by  President  Van  Buren  register  of 
the  land  office  at  Springfield.  In  the  same  year  he  received  the 
Democratic  nomination  for  Congress  in  a  district  embracing  the 
whole  northern  part  of  the  State.  His  competitor  was  John  T. 
Stuart,  Esq.,  of  Springfield.  Something  over  36,000  votes  were 
cast,  and  Mr.  Stuart  was  declared  elected  by  a  majority  of  Jive. 
Neither  Mr.  Douglas  nor  Mr.  Stuart  nor  any  one  else  have  ever 
been  able  to  say  which  candidate  actually  received  the  majority, 


BIRTHPLACE   OF    SENATOR    DOUGLAS,    AT   BRANDON,    VT. 


DOUGLAS   MONUMENT.  5 

but  it  is  certain  that  Mr.  Stuart  obtained  the  seat.  In  1840  Mr. 
Douglas  was  appointed  Secretary  of  State.  In  1841  he  was  chosen 
by  the  legislature  a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court.  In  1843  he  was 
nominated  for  Congress,  and  was  elected  by  400  majority  in  a 
Whig  district.  He  was  re-elected  in  1844  by  1,900  majority,  and 
again  in  1846  by  3,000  majority.  The  same  year  he  was  chosen  by 
the  legislature  to  a  seat  in  the  United  States  Senate,  which  he  took 
on  the  4th  of  March,  1847,  and  has  occupied  without  interruption 
ever  since.  His  present  term  would  have  expired  March  4th, 
1865. 

Mr.  Douglas'  career  in  Congress  is  familiar  to  almost  every  citi- 
zen of  Illinois.  Hardly  a  measure  of  national  moment  has  been 
before  that  body  during  the  past  seventeen  years  without  receiving 
the  imprint  of  his  strong  and  comprehensive  intellect.  The  Ore- 
gon bill,  the  Jackson  resolutions,  the  admission,  respectively,  of 
Florida,  Iowa,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota  and  California;  the  maritime 
laws  of  the-great  lakes  and  rivers  of  the  \Yest;  the  war  with  Mex- 
ico; the  compromise  measures  of  1850;  the  Kansas  and  Nebraska 
Act;  the  Pacific  Railroad  bills;  the  Clay  ton- Bui  wer  treaty,  and  the 
Lecompton  Constitution,  all  bear  the  marks  of  his  energy  and  abil- 
ity in  a  greater  degree  than  of  any  other  contemporary  statesman. 
In  the  Democratic  National  Convention  of  1852,  Mr.  Douglas  re- 
ceived 92  votes  for  the  Presidential  nomination,  and  in  the  Con- 
vention of  1856  he  received  121.  We  need  hardly  recur  to  the 
conventions  of  Charleston  and  Baltimore  last  year,  where  the  del- 
egates from  the  North  clung  to  him  with  the  energy  of  desperation, 
and  where  the  South  deliberately  broke  the  party  in  twain  for  the 
purpose  of  defeating  the  only  candidate  who  could  have  been  elec- 
ted, and  thus  affording  themselves  a  pretext  for  destroying  the 
Union.  It  is  little  enough  to  say,  in  concluding  this  biographical 
sketch,  that  for  the  past  four  years  at  least  the  Democratic  party 
has  existed  in  and  by  Stephen  A.  Douglas.  Neither  Jackson  nor 
Van  Buren,  in  their  palmiest  days,  ever  reigned  with  more  perfect 
and  unquestioned  sway  than  he  in  the  great  political  division  to 
which  he  belonged. 

Mr.  Douglas  was  married  April  7,  1847,  to  Miss  Martha  D. 
Martin,  of  Rockingham  county,  N.  C.,  by  whom  he  had  three  chil- 
dren, two  of  whom  are  living.  She  died  Jan.  19,  1853.  He  was 
again  married  Nov.  20,  1856,  to  Miss  Adele  Cutts,  daughter  of 
James  Madison  Cutts,  Esq.,  second  comptroller  of  the  Treasury, 
by  whom  he  had  a  daughter,  who  died  about  a  year  and  a  half  ago. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  Chicago  Tribune  has  had  no  sympathy 


D  HISTORY    OF   THE 

with  the  political  movements  of  the  late  Senator  since  1853.  He 
was  content  to  go  his  way,  and  we  ours.  He  had  one  line  of 
policy,  and  we  another.  In  all  these  years  of  difference,  we  have 
shared  with  others  the  animosity  that  our  prejudices  or  his  acts 
provoked;  and  he  even  was  not  exempt  from  the  infirmity  which 
afflicts  all  partisans.  We  draw  a  veil  over  that  distracted  period, 
and  leave  the  historian  to  decide  whether  he  and  his  friends,  or  his 
opposers,  ourselves  among  the  number,  were  right.  We  have 
nothing  to  apologize  for — nothing  to  extenuate — and  he  would 
have  had  nothing  to  unsay  had  he  lived.  But  in  all  partisan 
strifes  there  come  moments  when  the  enmities  and  hates  engen- 
dered by  conflicting  views  and  personal  ambitions,  are  beaten 
down  and  conquered  by  danger  which  all  men  must  share.  One 
of  these  moments  has  been  upon  us;  it  brought  about  a  union  which 
years  would  have  cemented.  Only  yesterday  Judge  Douglass  and 
the  Tribune  stood  upon  the  same  platform.  The  imminent  peril 
of  the  present  had  put  all  old  things  out  of  sight;  and  side  by  side 
with  him  we  stood  for  the  defense,  the  honor  and  the  perpetuity 
of  the  great  Republic;  and  now  uncovered  and  reverently  look- 
ing into  his  grave,  we  can  say  that  a  Patriot  reposes  therein. 
In  revolutions,  the  events  of  a  day  are  equal  to  the  work  which 
years  of  peace  accomplish.  The  rude  shock  of  arms  lately  encoun- 
tered, awakened  him  to  the  true  designs  of  the  men  with  whom  he 
had  acted;  and  the  same  potent  cause  revealed  him  to  us  in  an 
aspect  as  unwonted  as  it  was  glorious.  If  he  had  been  mistaken 
in  those  for  whom  he  had  hazarded  so  much,  we  were  not  less  so 
in  him  whom  we  so  earnestly  opposed.  If  he  found  them  treacher- 
ous and  false,  the  country  saw  him  noble  and  true.  Under  all  that 
seemed  to  contemporaries  of  the  opposite  school,  selfish,  ambitious 
and  unpatriotic,  was  felt  to  be  that  enduring  basis  out  of  which 
devotion  and  patriotism  grow.  To-day,  the  signs  of  sorrow  and 
the  habiliments  of  woe,  the  subdued  voice,  the  measured  tread  and 
the  look  of  grief  every  where  observable  among  all  parties  and 
men  of  all  creeds,  are  proofs  that  the  heart  of  the  country  is 
wounded,  and  the  people,  now  all  sensible  of  his  value,  will  pro- 
foundly and  sincerely  mourn  their  irreparable  loss. 

In  his  last  days,  he  gave  those  who  stood  near  to  minister  to  his 
wants,  the  most  convincing  assurances  of  the  depth  and  earnest- 
ness of  the  lively  love  of  country  that  filled  his  heart.  In  his  wak- 
ing hours,  as  well  as  in  those  moments  when  the  violence  of  his 
disease  unseated  his  great  intellect,  he  was  busy  with  national 
events,  and  the  conflict  that  is  now  upon  us.  It  was  his  last  wish 


DOUGLAS   MONUMENT.  7 

that  the  work  which  will  regenerate  the  country  while  rescuing  it 
from  his  enemies,  should  go  rapidly  on.  To  one,  in  a  wandering 
moment,  he  said,  "  I  station  you  at  the  Relay  House.  Move  on ! " 
Of  another  he  asked,  "  Why  do  we  stand  still?  let  us  press  on! 
Let  us  to  Alexandria  quick!"  To  still  another  he  said,  "Tele- 
graph to  the  President,  and  let  the  column  move  on!"  And  so, 
throughout  the  progress  of  the  disease,  which  struck  him  down — 
he  was  thinking  of  his  country  and  her  peril.  At  Washington,  in 
his  imaginings,  and  in  the  command  for  which  nature  had  fitted 
him,  and  which  would  have  been  bestowed  had  he  lived,  he  seemed 
to  direct  events  and  dictate  victory.  And  when  the  lucid  inter- 
vals came,  he  was,  if  not  so  emphatic,  not  less  sincere.  The  salva- 
tion of  the  Republic  was  uppermost  in  his  thoughts  by  day  and  by 
night.  His  own  condition,  the  imminent  peril  of  death,  his  com- 
plicated affairs,  gave  him  no  concern.  Almost  his  last  coherent 
words  were  an  ardent  wish  for  the  honor  and  prosperity  of  the  Re- 
public, by  the  defeat  and  dispersion  of  her  enemies.  The  country, 
regardless  of  party  distinctions,  wherever  the  love  of  the  stars  and 
stripes  is  not  repressed  by  the  terrorism  which  he  knew  and  hated, 
will  treasure  up  his  dying  prayer  and  make  his  hopes  and  aspira- 
tions the  rule  of  patriotic  endeavor. 

We  need  say  nothing  of  the  personal  characteristics  of  Stephen 
A.  Douglas.  There  is  no  cabin  in  America  to  which  his  name  has 
not  gone.  There  is  no  man,  however  humble  or  unfit,  who  from 
the  praise  of  his  friends,  often  indiscreet,  or  the  abuse  of  his  ene- 
mies, more  frequently  undeserved,  has  not  made  up  an  estimate 
of  the  man.  He  was  undeniably  great.  He  had  a  great  brain,  in 
which  size  did  not  repress  activity.  He  had  a  will  which  was  as  in- 
flexible as  iron.  He  had  a  courage  which  bordered  at  times  upon 
audacity.  He  had  great  affections,  and  by  consequence  great  pas- 
sions— he  could  hate  as  well  as  love.  He  had  great  vigor  of  con- 
stitution, and,  all  men  said,  a  firm  hold  upon  the  strings  of  life. 
He  had  the  power  of  drawing  men  to  him  with  the  grasp  and  vigor 
of  a  giant.  No  one  since  Henry  Clay  has  had  such  hosts  of  friends 
who  would  do  his  will  or  die  in  the  attempt.  He  had  great  ambi- 
tion, which  he  sought  to  gratify  by  great  events.  Hence  he  was 
an  orator  and  politician;  and  as  both  he  greatly  excelled.  Nature 
fitted  him  to  make  a  mark  in  the  world;  and  he  could  not  have 
been  placed  where  he  would  not  have  graven  his  name.  He  has 
gone  from  us  at  a  moment  when  his  loss  will  most  be  felt.  In  the 
vigor  of  early  manhood,  without  having  yet  attained  the  full  ma- 
turity of  his  powers  as  an  orator  or  thinker;  but  of  ripened  expe- 


8  HISTORY    OF    THE 

rience  and  broad  culture,  he  has  fallen.  Another  decade,  when  the 
voice  of  war  is  forgotten,  would  have  witnessed  the  gratification 
of  the  object  of  his  later  strifes.  His  country  at  peace  in  all  its 
parts  and  with  all  the  world,  the  arrogant  slave  power  humiliated 
partly  by  his  courageous  efforts,  would  have  seen  his  elevation  to 
the  position  that  he  would  have  filled  with  conspicuous  ability. 
That  was  among  the  readable  certainties  of  the  future.  But  he 
has  gone.  The  good  and  evil  of  his  life  remain,  for  the  instruction 
of  those  who  will  do  the  work  from  which  he  is  dissevered  forever. 
Let  us  who  are  left,  emulous  of  that  fervid  love  of  country  which 
will  make  his  name  glorious,  press  on  in  the  direction  in  which, 
when  living,  his  face  was  set.  His  last  public  speech  is  the  stand- 
ard by  which  his  life  is  to  be  measured.  We  remember  him  by 
that,  and  lay  down  therefor  this  tribute  of  gratitude  and  praise. 


SENATOR  DOUGLAS  died  on  the  3d' of  June,  1861,  at  the  Tre- 
mont  House,  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  about  four  weeks  after 
his  great  speech  before  the  State  Legislature,  and  his  last  pub- 
lic address  in  the  old  "  Wigwam,"  on  Market  street,  where 
Abraham  Lincoln  was  nominated,  one  year  before,  for  Presi- 
dent. 

His  death  was  pronounced  by  his  physicians  to  be  the  result 
of  fever  of  a  typhoid  nature,  brought  on  by  extreme  mental 
and  physical  labor  during  the  few  last  years  of  his  life,  together 
with  the  excitement  and  anxiety  caused  by  the  precarious  con- 
dition of  the  country  upon  the  eve  of  a  great  civil  war.  There 
was  probably  not  a  man  in  all  the  land  who  possessed  a  keener 
sense  of  the  disastrous  and  doubtful  consequences  of  such  a 
revolution  as  was  about  to  burst  forth,  than  Senator  Douglas. 

His  remains  were  embalmed,  and  for  some  time  lay  "  in 
state"  at  Bryan  Hall.  An  immense  concourse  of  people,  irre- 
spective of  political  or  religious  differences,  viewed  the  mortal 
remains  with  loving  and  respectful  deference. 

The  body  was  then  borne  to  the  place  whereon  he  had  intend- 
ed to  build  his  homestead,  and  there,  buried  underneath  the 
track  of  a  primitive  highway,  once  a  stage  road  leading  from 


DOUGLAS   MONUMENT.  9 

the  east  along  the  lake  shore  to  Chicago,  and  within  a  few  feet 
of  a  great  railway  of  which  he  was  the  chief  promoter  and 
father,  he  "  sleeps  his  last  sleep"  within  sound  of  the  beating 
waves  of  Lake  Michigan  and  of  the  rushing  trains. 

The  funeral  procession  extended  half-way  from  the  City  Hall 
to  the  grave,  and  all  parties  and  creeds  vied  with  each  other  to 
honor  the  dead  Senator.  He  was  buried  with  Masonic  ceremo- 
nies,  and  the  Roman  Catholic  bishop  of  the  diocese  accorded 
such  honors  as  he  could  under  the  laws  of  his  church. 

A  space,  sixteen  feet  square,  was  immediately  inclosed  by  a 
rude  board  fence,  and  in  two  weeks  this  inclosure  presented  a 
level  spot  of  sand,  without  a  shrub  or  spear  of  grass  to  greet 
the  visitor  to  this  then  lonely  place. 

Steps  were  soon  taken,  however,  to  beautify  and  protect  the 
grave. 


[From  Chicago  Tribune,  July  24, 1861.] 

THE  RESTING  PLACE  OF  DOUGLAS. 


AN  unusual  degree  of  interest  is  manifest  among  our  citizens,  in 
the  direction  of  suitable  improvement  and  adornment  of  the  last 
resting  place  of  Douglas  at  Cottage  Grove.  The  following  we  find 
in  the  Post  of  yesterday,  alluding  to  the  same: 

"  The  roxigh  fence  boards  were  inscribed  all  over  with  the  names 
of  visitors,  representing  nearly  every  section  of  the  Union  that  is 
still  loyal  to  the  constitution.  Here  are  a  few  of  them:  " 

And  then  our  contemporary  gives  a  list  of  these  scribblers,  who 
would  have  been  quite  as  likely  to  have  scrawled  their  autographs 
on  the  memorial  marble  itself.  It  is  a  lamentable  American  weak- 
ness, the  cheapest  kind  of  "  Brummagem  "  vanity,  that  incites  these 
scrawling  tribes  to  the  scoring  of  their  address  on  every  place  of 
public  resort,  whether  cemetery  or  public  building,  no  matter  how 
sacred  or  how  costly.  For  ourselves  we  desire  to  see  the  last  rest- 
ing place  of  the  illustrious  dead  at  Cottage  Grove  marked  ap- 
propriately, as  it  will  be,  by  a  tribute  worthy  the  fame  of  the  sleeper 
that  rests  beneath.  We  shall  hope  to  see  it  adorned  with  rich  and 
permanent  memorials,  and  a  resort  of  all  visitors  to  our  city.  We 


10  HISTORY    OF   THE 

are  glad  to  learn  that  our  talented  young  fellow  citizen,  LEO.  W. 
VOT.K  has  already  been  put  in  charge  of  the  preparation  of  some 
plan  of  such  adornment.  Let  it  be  handsome,  liberal,  proper.  But 
then  will  the  scrawlers  and  scribblers  of  their  own  ill- written  names, 
spare  the  place  their  profanation.  Visitors  who  pause  to  read  the 
name  of  "Douglas,"  cut  in  marble  or  enduring  bronze,  will  be  lit- 
tle edified  to  learn,  from  handwriting  hard  by,  that  "  Peter  Smith" 
lives  in  Porkopolis,  or  "  Mary  Snooks  "  in  Hedgepole. 

The  "  Invincible  Club"  interested  itself,  and  the  City  Coun- 
cil of  Chicago  made  its  first  and  only  appropriation  of  fifty 
dollars  in  behalf  of  a  new  fence. 

Some  flowers  from  Lake  Yiew  and  evergreens  from  Egan- 
dale  were  donated  by  friends,  and  with  volunteer  work  from 
neighbors  in  the  vicinity,  the  inclosure  was  soon  made  to  look 
quite  neat  and  respectable. 

While  this  tribute  of  love  and  respect  was  being  performed, 
and  the  green  sod  laid  over  and  around  the  grave,  there  came 
like  a  thunder-clap  the  announcement  of  the  disastrous  battle 
of  Manassas,  or  Bull  Rnn.  How  dark  indeed  was  this  day! 

In  the  following  September,  the  writer  was  authorized  by 
Mrs.  Douglas  to  take  charge  as  custodian  of  the  grave  and  the 
estate  at  Cottage  Grove.  A  short  time  previous  he  received 
from  her  the  following  letter: 

ME.  LEONARD  W.  VOLK: 

"  My  Dear  Sir: — I  have  not  words  to  tell  you  how  thankful 
I  am;  and  your  young  friends  have  undertaken  a  task  which  will  I 
well  know,  be  to  you  each  one  a  labor  of  love.  The  lonely  and  desert- 
ed appearance  of  that  cherished  grave  has  never  left  my  memory 
since  I  last  saw  it  for  one  moment.  I  was  anxious  to  make  some 
better  arrangement  before  I  left  Chicago,  but  my  grief  made  me 
too  helpless  to  carry  out  my  intention,  and  friends  advised  me  to 
leave  it  to  them.  Any  plan  your  taste  may  suggest  will  be  agree- 
able to  me.  With  renewed  thanks, 

I  am  yours, 

ADELE  DOUGLAS. 
WASHINGTON,  July  25th,  1861. " 


DOUGLAS    MONUMENT. 


FIRST  CALL  FOR  A  MEETING. 


CHICAGO,  October  19th,  1861. 

Sir:  A  meeting  of  gentlemen  interested  in  providing  an  efficient 
organization  for  the  erection  of  a  suitable  monument  in  honor  of  the 
late  Hon.  STEPHEN  A.  DOUGLAS,  and  as  a  grateful  recognition  of 
the  illustrious  services  rendered  by  him  to  his  country,  will  be  held 
at  the  parlor  of  the  Tremont  House,  on  Tuesday,  October  22, 1861, 
at  8  o'clock,  P.  M. 

You  are  respectfully  requested  to  be  present  and  participate  in 
the  proposed  meeting. 

Respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servants, 

J.  W.  SHEAHAN, 
S.  W.  FULLER, 
S.  H.  KERFOOT, 
W.  C.  GOUDY, 
THOMAS  DRUMMOND, 
DAVID  A.  GAGE, 
J.  P.  CLARKSON, 
LEONARD  W.  VOLK. 


[From  a  Morning  Paper.] 

A  meeting  of  citizens  was  held  at  the  Tremont  house  last  even- 
ing, for  the  inauguration  of  the  popular  movement  towards  the 
erection  of  a  monument  to  the  memory  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas. 
There  was  a  full  attendance  of  influential  and  respectable  citizens, 
and  the  matter  was  discussed  at  considerable  length.  The  senti- 
ment of  the  meeting  was  in  favor  of  making  the  movement  a  pop- 
ular one  by  appealing  to  every  class  of  citizens.  To  effect  this,  it 
was  deemed  advisable  that  the  subscription  should  be  limited  to 
one  dollar  for  each  person, — a  sum  which  every  friend  of  the  great 
statesman  and  his  doctrines  will  give  with  cheerful  readiness. 

It  is  proposed  to  erect  a  monument  which  shall  cost  one  hundred 
or  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  This  sum  will  furnish  a 
work  of  art  which  will  be  a  worthy  token  of  the  regard  in  which 
the  great  statesman  was  held  by  the  nation ;  and  will  constitute 
an  enduring  ornament  among  the  institutions  of  the  city  of  Chicago. 
No  plans  have  yet  been  presented,  but  the  best  talent  in  the 
country  will  be  employed  on  the  designs,  and  the  monument  will 
be  of  magnificent  and  tasteful  proportions. 


12  HISTORY    OF   THE 

A  committee  was  apppointed  to  deliberate  on  the  best  method 
of  carrying  out  the  design  of  the  meeting,  who  will  report  at  a 
future  session.  This  committee  consisted  of  the  following  gentle- 
men, viz:  Hon.  John  M.Wilson,  L.  W.  Volk,  W.  C.  Goudy,  H.  G. 
Miller,  S.  W.  Fuller,  J.  W.  Sheahan,  J.  M.  Rountree. 


ORGANIZATION    OF  THE   MONUMENT  ASSOCIATION. 


[From  Chicago  Times,  NOT.  9, 1861.] 

Ax  adjourned  meeting  of  citizens  to  take  into  consideration  the 
erection  of  a  monument  to  the  memory  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas, 
was  held  last  evening  at  the  Tremont  House.  The  meeting  was 
organized  by  the  election  of  Judge  Scates  as  chairman,  and  W.  C. 
Goudy  as  secretary. 

H.  G.  Miller,  from  a  committee  appointed  at  a  previous  meeting, 
to  propose  a  plan  for  carrying  out  the  object  in  view,  reported  in 
favor  of  founding  an  incorporated  company  under  an  act  of  the 
Legislature  entitled,  "  An  act  for  the  Incorporation  of  Benevolent, 
Educational,  Literary,  Musical,  Scientific  and  Missionary  Societies, 
including  Societies  Formed  for  Mutual  Improvement,  or  for  the 
Promotion  of  the  Arts,"  approved  February  24,  1859,  the  incorpo- 
rated company  to  be  named  "  The  Douglas  Monument  Associa- 
tion," and  its  object  to  be  the  erection  of  a  monument  to  the 
memory  of  the  late  Stephen  Arnold  Douglas,  with  a  capital  stock 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  divided  into  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  shares,  of  one  dollar  each.  The  operations 
of  the  association  are  to  be  carried  on  in  the  city  of  Chicago. 

The  committee  were  in  favor  of  effecting  a  permanent  organiza- 
tion by  special  act  of  the  Legislature. 

Professor  McChesney,  in  behalf  of  a  committee  of  the  board  of 
trustees  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  stated  that  the  board  had 
resolved  that  the  centre  building  of  the  University,  including  the 
tower,  should  be  called  Douglas  Hall,  and  that  they  desired  that 
the  name  should  be  inscribed  upon  a  tablet  and  embodied  therein, 
and  that  the  remains  of  Judge  Douglas  be  placed  in  the  tower. 
He  thought  that  the  propriety  and  fitness  of  this  action  was  appa- 
rent from  the  relation  of  Judge  Douglas  to  the  University,  he  hav- 
ing taken  a  zealous  interest  in  the  establishment  of  that  institution, 
and  donated  to  it  nearly  one  hundred  thousand  dollars.  He 


DOUGLAS   MONUMENT.  ]3 

thought  that  such  a  tower  as  was  proposed  would  be  the  most  fit 
and  appropriate  monument  that  could  be  erected.  The  board  had 
already  made  an  appeal  for  means  to  carry  out  this  plan. 

L.  W.  Volk  presented  a  plan  of  organization  of  an  association, 
the  affairs  of  which  should  be  managed  by  a  board  of  eighteen 
trustees,  and  memberships  to  which  should  be  secured  by  the  con- 
tribution of  one  dollar. 

The  various  plans  were  discussed  at  some  length.  Judge  Scates 
was  of  the  opinion  that  the  monument  should  be  erected  indepen- 
dently of  the  University.  Many  would  wish  to  contribute  to  the 
one  who  would  not  be  willing  to  give  aid  to  the  other.  He  thought 
the  object  could  be  more  quickly  and  surely  accomplished  by  hav- 
ing the  one  distinct  object  in  view,  and  urged  that  some  definite 
organization  be  effected  as  soon  as  practicable. 

The  report  of  the  committee  was  laid  on  the  table. 

The  plan  of  Mr.  Volk  was  then  adopted. 

The  organization  is  as  follows: 

Article  First. — This  association  shall  be  known  as  the  "  DOUG- 
LAS MONUMENT  ASSOCIATION." 

Article  Second. — All  persons  contributing  not  less  than  the  sum 
of  one  dollar  to  its  object  shall  be  considered  members  of  the  As- 
sociation, and  be  entitled  to  a  diploma  or  certificate  of  membership. 

Article  Third. — For  the  energetic  and  successful  prosecution  of 
the  object  of  this  Association,  namely,  the  erection  of  a  suitable 
monument  in  honor  of  the  late  Hon.  Stephen  Arnold  Douglas,  to 
be  placed  over  his  remains  at  Cottage  Grove,  or  elsewhere  near 
Chicago — a  Board  of  Trustees,  to  consist  of  eighteen  persons,  a 
majority  of  whom,  at  least,  shall  be  residents  of  Chicago,  or  with- 
in a  distance  therefrom  convenient  for  attendance  at  its  meetings, 
shall  be  forthwith  appointed,  this  association  to  select  twelve  mem- 
bers, and  the  residue  to  be  elected  hereafter  by  said  twelve  mem- 
bers so  selected;  to  which  said  Board  shall  be  committed: 

1.  All  the  active,  executive  and  legal  powers  of  the  Association 
without  reserve,  and  especially  the  entire  charge  of  selecting  and 
deciding  upon  a  plan  for  said  monument. 

2.  The  adoption  of  such  plan  or  plans  for  the  raising  and  col- 
lection of  contributions  in  aid  of  its  construction  and  completion 
as  they  shall  judge  advisable. 

3.  The  contracting  with  such  party  or  parties  for  the  complete 
construction  of  the  proposed  monument,  at  such  time,  and  within 
such  conditions  as  they  may  approve. 


14:  HISTORY    OF   THE 

Article  Fourth. — 1.     Said  board  shall  be  known  as  the  "  Board 
of  Trustees  of  the  Douglas  Monument  Association." 

2.  The  whole  number  of  said  board  shall  be  divided  into  three 
equal  sections,  one  section  to  retire  alternately  every  five  years; 
and  all  vacancies  in  the  board  made  by  such  retirement,  by  resig- 
nation, disability,  death,  or  otherwise,  to  be  filled  by  the  remain- 
ing members. 

3.  Said  board  shall  organize  by  the  election,  at  such  times  as 
they  may  direct,  of  a  president,  treasurer,  and   secretary  (which 
secretary,  at  their  discretion,  may  be  outside  of  their  body,  to  be 
of  approved   capacity,   integrity,  and  particular  abilities  for  the 
office,  and  receive,  at  their  discretion,  a  remuneration  for  hts  ser- 
vices), as  also  of  an  executive  committee  of  the  board  for  the  bet- 
ter transaction  of  its  business, — together  with  such  other  officers 
or  agents  as  they  may  judge  needful  and  proper. 

4.  Said  board  shall  make  and  establish  such  rules  and  regula- 
tions relating  to  its  meetings  and  organization,  the  duties  of  its 
officers  and  agents,  and  the  transaction  of  its  business,  as  in  their 
judgment  shall  be  thought  best. 

5.  Said  board  shall  hold,  through  its  treasurer,  all  property  or 
moneys  now  or  hereafter  to  be  acquired  in  the  name  or  for  the  pur- 
poses of  this  Association;  shall  have  a  legal  seal,  arid  shall  seasona- 
bly secure  such  legal  incorporation,  under  the  authority  of  the 
Legislature  or  of  existing  laws,  as  shall  give  full  validity  to  its 
acts. 

6.  Said  board  shall  hold  themselves  individually,  and  exclus- 
ively of  the  Association,  responsible  for  all  expenditures  of  money 
made  by  them  beyond  such  amounts  as  are  or  have  been  actually 
collected  and  paid  in  to  their  treasurer. 

7.  Said  board  may,  at  their  discretion,  elect  individuals  of  this 
or  any  other  State  to  be  honorary  members  thereof,  or  of  the  Asso- 
ciation in  general,  under  such  provisions  or  conditions  as  they  may 
see  fit  to  establish;  provided,  that  no  person,  upon  the  condition 
of  pecuniary  contribution,  shall  be  made  an  honorary  member  of 
the  Association  upon  the  payment  of  a  sum  less  than  twenty  dol- 
lars; nor  an  honorary  member  of  the  board  of  trustees  upon  the 
payment  of  a  sum  less  than  one  hundred  dollars. 

8.  Said  board  shall  take  seasonable  steps  to  secure,  as  a  prelim- 
inary to,  and  on  the  condition  precedent  of,  the  completion  of  the 
proposed  monument,  the  guaranty  of  the  fee  of  the  land  or  such 
part  thereof  as  may  be  required  for  the   suitable   arrangement  of 


DOTJLGA6   MONUMENT.  15 

said  monument,  or  otherwise  provide  for  the  perpetual  and  undis- 
turbed security  of  the  same. 

9.  Upon  the  full  completion  of  said  monument,  it  shall  be  the 
duty  of  said  board  to  have  set  apart  and  provided  a  sufficient  per- 
manent fund,  to  be  put  at  interest,  the  annual  proceeds  of  which 
shall  be  applied  for  the  preservation,  care,  and  repair  of  said  monu- 
ment and  land,  or,  at  their  election,  to  convey  to  the  city  of  Chicago, 
or  the  state  of  Illinois,  said  monument  or  land,  or  both,  upon  the 
guaranty  of  the  authorities  so  receiving  the  same,  that  said  monu- 
ment and  the  land  upon  which  it  stands  shall  be  perpetually  kept 
in  due  preservation  and  care  for  all  time. 

Article  fifth. — It  is  the  intention  of  this  association  to  intrust 
said  board  with  as  full  and  complete  powers  as  may  be  necessary 
for  the  execution  of  the  trust  hereby  committed  to  them,  whether 
the  same  are  herein  expressed  or  not. 

Article  /Sixth. — Said  board  shall,  as  often  as  once  in  each  year, 
publish  a  full  account  of  their  proceedings,  as  also  of  their  receipts 
and  expenditures,  in  behalf  of  said  monument,  duly  certified;  for 
the  information  of  the  members  of  this  association  and  the  public. 

The  meeting  then  adjourned,  subject  to  the  call  of  a  committee 
of  three. 

The  following  are  the  names  of  the  subscribers  to  the  fore- 
going Articles  of  Association,  arranged  as  originally  signed, 
which  were  obtained  by  Mr.  Yolk,  all  of  whom  paid  one  dollar: 

WALTER  B.  SCATES,  WM.  C.  GOUDY, 

LEONARD  W.  VOLK,  J.  P.  CLAKKSON, 

SAML.  W.  FULLER,  E.  B.  McCAGG, 

S.  H.  KERFOOT,  J.  L.  MAKSH, 

THOS.  B.  BRYAN,  E.  VAN  BUREN, 

JNO.  G.  ROGERS,  GEO.  A.  MEECH, 

PHILIP  CO  LEY,  M.  B.  THOMAS, 

J.  W.  FOSTER,  EDWIN  H.  SHELDON, 

JAMES  ROBB,  J.  H.  ROBERTS, 

W.  B.  OGDEN,  M.  W.  FULLER, 

C.  R.  STARKWEATHER,  HENRY  G.  MILLER, 
WILLIAM  BARRY,  JOHN  V.  EUSTACE, 
JOHN  TYRRELL,  JOHN  M.  ROUNTREE, 

w.  K.  MCALLISTER,  j.  H.  HUBBARD, 

OBEDIAH  JACKSON,  JR.,        T.  S.  FITCH, 

D.  CAMERON,  JR.,  JOHN  N.  JEWETT, 
AARON  HAVEN,                       B.  S.  MORRIS, 

J.  H.  McCHESNEY,  WM.  H.  BRADLEY, 

D.  A.  GAGE,  WM.  H.  KING, 

W.  F.  STOREY,  IRA  SCOTT, 

H.  A.  TUCKER,  J.  M.  PARKER, 

GEO.  P.  A.  HEALY,  U.  F.    LINDER, 

THOMAS  DRUMMOND,  J.  C.  BURROUGHS, 


16 


HISTORY    OF   THE 


C.  H.  McCORMICK, 
EDWIN  BURNHAM, 
C.  R.  BURNHAM, 

E.  HEMPSTEAD, 
SOL.  A.  SMITH, 
S.  S.  HAYES, 
JOS.  KNOX, 

J.  Q.  HOYT, 

C.  WATROUS, 

H.  D.  COLVIN, 

GEO.  M.  GRADY, 

A.  T.  KING, 

JAMES  LARMON, 

P.  A.  HOYNE, 

ANDRE  MATTESON, 

A.  M.  HERRINGTON, 

WIRT  DEXTER, 

R.  T.  MERRICK, 

M.  PARKER, 

JOHN  GARRICK, 

HORACE  A.  HURLBUT, 

G.  S.  HUBBARD, 

F.  A.   EASTMAN, 
J.  M.  DOUGLAS, 
C.  WALSH, 

JAS.  GKANT  WILSON, 
R.  B.  MASON, 
W.  L.  NEWBERRY, 
W.  G.  SHERMAN, 
JOHN  VAN  ARM  AN, 


GEO.  S.  KIMBERLY, 
B.  G.  CAULF1ELD, 
JOHN  M.  WILSON, 
EDW.  I.  TINKHAM, 
R.  A.  B.  MILLS, 
H.  0.  STONE, 
J.  H.  DUNHAM, 
F.  A.  BRYAN, 

JOHN  PARMLY, 

E.  C.  ROGERS, 
MARTIN  RYERSON, 
MALCOLM  MCDONALD, 
JOHN  COMISKEY, 

B.  McVICKAR, 

F.  C.  SHERMAN, 
HENRY  FULLER, 
GEO.  W.  FULLER, 
J.  H.  WOODWORTH, 
W.  W.  WAITE, 

C.  R    JONES, 
FRANK  PARMELEE, 
JOHN  B.  TURNER, 
V.  C.  TURNER, 

J.  W.  CONNETT, 

J.  B.  OLCOTT, 

L.  D.  LANGLY, 

JULIAN  S.  RUMSEY, 

R.  R  BALL, 

S.  B.  GOOKINS, 

J.  M.  WALKER. 


MEETING  OF  THE   DOUGLAS  MONUMENT 
ASSOCIATION. 


A  MEETING  of  the  members  of  the  Douglas  Monument  Associa- 
tion was  held  at  the  Tremont  House,  December  5,  1861,  in  pur- 
suance of  the  call  of  the  committee  appointed  for  that  purpose,  to 
select  twelve  trustees  of  the  Douglas  Monument  Association,  which 
was  called  to  order  by  W.  C.  Goudy,  Esq. 

On  motion,  Hon.  S.  W.  Fuller  was  elected  Chairman  and  W.  C. 
Goudy  Secretary. 

On  motion  of  Aaron  Haven,  Esq.,  a  committee  of  five  was  ap- 
pointed, consisting  of  Aaron  Haven,  Wm.  Barry,  H.  G.  Miller,  L. 
W.  Volk,  and  B.  G.  Caulfield,  to  nominate  twelve  persons  for  the 
office  of  trustees. 

The  committee  retired  and  reported  the  names  of  the  following 
persons  for  the  office  of  trustees,  to-wit:  John  B.  Turner.  John  D. 
Caton,  Wm.  B.  Ogden,  Walter  B,  Scates,  Wm.  Barry,  Sam'l  W. 
Fuller,  John  M.  Douglas,  Wm.  C.  Goudy,  David  A.  Gage,  John 
S.  Newhouse,  Francis  C.  Sherman,  and  Thos.  B.  Bryan. 


DOUGLAS    MONUMENT.  17 

Hon.  S.  B.  Gookins  moved  that  the  report  be  adopted,  and  the 
persons  nominated  be  elected,  which  motion  was  carried  unani- 
mously. 

Rev.  Wm.  Barry  moved  that  John  B.  Turner,  Esq.,  be  requested 
to  call  the  first  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  that  the  sec- 
retary notify  the  persons  elected  trustees,  of  their  selection. 

On  motion  the  meeting  adjourned. 

S.  W.  FULLER,  Chairman. 
W.  C.  GOUDY,  Secretary. 

On  the  19th  of  October,  1SG1,  was  issued  a  call,  signed  by  a 
number  of  well-known  citizens,  requesting  a  meeting  of  the  friends 
of  the  late  Senator  Douglas,  for  the  purpose  of  devising  the  most 
judicious  plan  of  organization  to  carry  out  the  wish  of  his  friends 
and  admirers  for  the  erection  of  a  suitable  monument  over  his 
remains. 

Pursuant  to  the  call,  the  meeting  was  numerously  attended,  and 
a  marked  interest  and  enthusiasm  were  manifested  in  the  proposed 
object. 

At  a  subsequent  meeting,  held  on  the  8th  of  November,  articles 
of  association  were  adopted,  to  form  the  proposed  constitution,  and 
a  committee  was  appointed  to  procure  signatures  to  the  same,  and 
to  call  a  full  meeting  of  the  subscribers,  who  were  to  select,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  constitution,  twelve  trustees,  to  whom  the  in- 
terests arid  business  of  the  association  were  to  be  committed. 

After  more  than  one  hundred  names  had  been  obtained  by  the 
committee,  the  meeting  was  called,  at  which  twelve  gentlemen  were 
unanimously  chosen  by  the  association  as  its  trustees,  who,  at  sub- 
sequent meetings  of  their  body,  filled  up  their  number  to  eighteen 
by  the  selection  of  six  others,  and  elected  their  officers  and  execu- 
tive committee,  in  compliance  with  the  constitution.  They  also 
adopted  a  code  of  by-laws  for  their  own  regulation,  together  with 
an  appeal  to  the  public  in  behalf  of  their  patriotic  object. 

BOARD    OF    TRUSTEES. 

Hon.  John  B.  Turner,  Chicago;  General  William  A.  Richardson, 
Quincy;  Hon.  John  D.  Caton,  Ottawa;  Hon.  William  B.  Ogden, 
Chicago;  Hon.  Walter  B.  Scates,  Chicago;  Rt.  Rev.  James  Dug- 
gan,  D.  D.,  Chicago;  Rev.  William  Barry,  Chicago;  Hon.  James 
C.  Allen,  Palestine;  Hon.  Samuel  H.  Treat,  Springfield;  Hon.  Wil- 
liam C.  Goudy,  Chicago;  Thomas  B.  Bryan,  Esq.,  Chicago;  David 
A.  Gage,  Esq.,  Chicago;  Hon.  Francis  C.  Sherman,  Chicago;  Hon. 
2 


18  HISTORY    OF   THE 

Samuel  W.  Fuller,  Chicago;  Col.  John  Dement,  Dixon;  Col.  John 
A.  Logan,  Benton;  John  M.  Douglas,  Esq.,  Chicago;  John  S.  New- 
house,  Esq.,  Chicago. 

OFFICERS. 

Walter  B.  Scates,  President;  Thomas  B.  Bryan,  1st  Vice  Presi- 
dent ;  William  C.  Goudy,  2d  Vice  President ;  David  A.  Gage, 
Treasurer  ;  Leonard  W.  Volk,  Secretary. 

EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 

Walter  B.  Scates,  President ;  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Duggan,  John  B. 
Turner,  Francis  C.  Sherman,  David  A.  Gage,  Treasurer  ;  Leonard 
W.  Volk,  Secretary. 


THE  DOUGLAS  MONUMENT  ASSOCIATION. 


APPEAL  TO  THE  PEOPLE. 

THE  Board  of  Trustees,  appointed  by  the  Douglas  Monument 
Association,  being  duly  organized  for  the  execution  of  the  patriotic 
enterprise  entrusted  to  their  charge,  respectfully  submit  their 
doings  and  design  to  the  public,  confident  that  no  urgent  appeal 
is  needed  to  the  friends  of  the  late  Stephen  A.  Douglas  to  assist 
in  the  proposed  tribute  of  honor  and  gratitude  to  that  illustrious 
statesman  and  patriot.  Born  among  the  free  hills  of  New  Eng- 
land, his  early  life  passed  in  New  York,  his  maturer  years  conse- 
crated with  generous  and  never-faltering  devotion  to  his  country, 
he  has  long  been  known  as  the  distinguished  representative  of  the 
West  in  the  councils  of  the  nation,  whose  boldness,  courage,  enthu- 
siasm, and  brilliant  talents  elevated  him  to  an  almost  unrivalled 
power  and  commanding  influence  among  his  countrymen — equal 
for  every  emergency,  daunted  by  no  obstacle,  and  acquiring  new 
greatness  even  in  disaster  and  seeming  defeat ;  giving  him  an  ac~ 
knowledged  place  in  the  constellation  of  eminent  statesmen  and 
patriots  whose  names  will  ever  illumine  the  history  of  our  country. 

Without  recalling  the  various  and  eventful  occasions  of  his  brill- 
iant career  as  a  politician  and  statesman,  in  which  he  won  the 
renown  which  was  so  willingly  and  warmly  conceded  to  him,  it 
needs  only  to  recur. to  his  last  appeals  of  a  true  and  magnanimous 


DOUGLAS   MONUMENT.  19 

patriotism  in  behalt  of  his  imperiled  country,  rallying  all  hearts  to 
a  loyal  and  self-sacrificing  maintenance  of  the  Union  of  these 
States,  and  the  Constitution  of  our  hitherto  great  and  united  Repub- 
lic, to  vindicate  his  full  claim  to  an  honorary  and  grateful  remem- 
brance, now  that  he  has  fallen  in  the  meridian  of  his  fame,  when, 
never  more  than  now,  his  eloquent  voice  and  inspiring  courage 
are  needed  in  his  country's  hour  of  darkness  and  trial. 

In  the  tranquil  rest  of  the  grave  the  departed  can  be  reached 
indeed  by  no  honors  a  grateful  country  can  rear  over  his  remains. 
But  not  less  to  ourselves  and  to  our  country,  and  to  the  genera- 
tions yet  unborn  who  are  to  enter  upon  the  sacred  heritage  and 
responsibilities  of  freemen,  than  to  him  is  it  due,  that  his  grave 
should  not  be  unmarked  by  some  enduring  tribute  of  national 
honors  and  gratitude. 

In  seeking  to  secure  a  fitting  monument  to  perpetuate  the  name 
of  DOUGLAS,  the  trustees  feel  assured  that  they  but  represent  the 
warm  and  unanimous  sentiment  which  found  prompt  utterance 
throughout  our  country  on  his  lamented  death;  and  they  desire  to 
be  actuated  in  the  accomplishment  of  the  sacred  charge  committed 
to  them  by  an  inviolable  trust  to  what  is  due  alike  to  the  honored 
dead,  and  to  the  sentiments  which  consecrate  his  memory  in  the 
hearts  of  his  friends  and  countrymen. 

In  submitting  the  plan  of  organization  and  proceedings  adopted 
for  and  by  this  board,  it  is  hoped  that  the  same  will  commend  it- 
self to  the  general  confidence  and  approval. 

It  is  believed  that  the  judicious  precautions  early  adopted  will 
be  a  sufficient  guarantee  that  all  due  care,  fidelity  and  good 
judgment  will  be  employed  to  secure  an  early  and  satisfactory 
achievement  of  the  work  they  have  undertaken.  The  trustees  pre- 
sume to  make  no  demands,  nor  do  they  prescribe  limits  in  their 
appeal  to  Mr.  Douglas'  friends.  They  forbear  at  this  time  even 
from  presenting  any  anticipatory  design  for  the  proposed  monu- 
ment, either  in  respect  to  its  form  or  cost,  beyond  such  suggestions 
as  propriety  may  dictate,  leaving  the  matter  finally  to  be  determined 
hereafter  by  what  shall  appear  to  be  the  wish  of  the  public,  as  ex- 
pressed in  their  voluntary  benefactions  to  his  memory.  It  has  been 
the  desire  of  this  board  to  afford  the  broadest  scope  to  the  liberal- 
ity of  the  public,  and  to  do  this  in  such  a  manner  as  to  connect 
the  names  of  the  humblest  contributors  with  the  association  formed 
to  honor  the  departed  statesman.  The  trustees  cannot  hope,  with- 
out the  concurring  vigilance  of  the  public,  to  guard  against  all 
contingencies  of  imposture  or  misplaced  confidence  in  the  collec- 


20 

tions  proposed  by  them.  They  beg  to  have  it  distinctly  under- 
stood that  all  authorized  agents  of  this  board  will  carry  with  them 
authentic  credentials  under  the  seal  of  the  association,  which,  it  is 
hoped,  may  guard  with  due  caution  against  misrepresentation  and 
fraud. 

In  prosecuting  their  proposed  collections,  it  is  the  intention  of 
the  board  to  afford  opportunity  to  the  friends  of  the  late  Mr. 
Douglas  in  all  parts  of  the  country  to  unite  in  this  national  trib- 
ute to  his  memory.  To  this  end  they  would  be  gladly  assisted  by 
the  voluntary  organization  of  local  auxiliary  associations,  to  be 
under  judicious  and  reliable  management,  with  which  this  board 
may  be  in  communication,  and  to  which  diplomas  will  be  for- 
warded in  return  for  such  moneys  as  are  collected  and  forwarded. 

Should  any  individuals  feel  prompted  to  anticipate  a  direct  ap- 
peal by  a  voluntary  transmission  of  money  in  aid  of  the  object,  the 
same  can  be  forwarded  by  mail,  or  otherwise,  to  the  treasurer. 
The  appeal  which  this  board  makes  to  the  fellow  countrymen  and 
friends  of  the  late  Mr.  Douglas  cannot  be  deemed  untimely,  even 
amidst  the  dark  hour  of  the  republic,  and  the  privations  and  dis- 
tress of  an  unnatural  war.  None  more  than  that  patriotic  states- 
man sought  to  avert,  by  just  and  constitutional  aims,  legitimate 
complaint;  none  more  than  he,  when  treason  menaced  the  foun- 
dations of  our  national  existence,  and  glory  proclaimed  in  truer 
and  more  inspiring  tones,  his  steadfast  loyalty  and  everlasting 
fidelity  to  the  Union  and  Constitution,  bequeathing  to  his  country 
in  his  dying  words  unquestioned  tokens  of  the  allegiance  which 
had  inspired  his  whole  life,  and  which,  breathing  from  his  silent 
grave,  may  yet  reanimate  and  restore  the  divided  glory  of  our 
common  country. 

Surely  it  is  not  untimely  to  rear  now  enduring  marble  over  his 
honored  remains,  bearing  forever  the  last  words  which  burst  from 
his  dying  lips,  "TELL  MY  CHILDREN  TO  OBEY  THE  LAWS,  AND  UP- 
HOLD THE  CONSTITUTION." 

A  constitution  and  code  of  by-laws  were  duly  adopted  by 
the  trustees,  for  the  government  of  the  association,  and  the 
constitution  provided  that  the  secretary  should  receive  as  com- 
pensation for  his  services  the  sum  of  one  thousand  dollars  per 
annum.  No  other  officer  or  trustee  was  to  receive  compensa- 
tion for  any  service  rendered. 

The  following  was  drafted  by  Mr.  Goudy,  and  presented  to 
the  Legislature  and  passed: 


DOUGLAS   MONUMENT.  21 

AN   ACT    TO    INCORPORATE    THE    DOUGLAS    MONU- 
MENT ASSOCIATION. 


SEC.  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  people  of  the  State  of  Illinois, 
represented  in  the  general  assembly,  That  William  A.  Richardson^ 
Francis  C.  Sherman,  William  B.  Ogden,  John  B.  Turner,  James 
Duggan,  Samuel  H.  Treat,  William  C.  Goudy,  John  D.  Caton, 
Walter  B.  Scates,  Thomas  B.  Bryan,  William  Barry,  Samuel  W. 
Fuller,  Samuel  S.  Marshall,  James  C.  Allen,  John  Dement,  John 
M.  Douglas,  David  A.  Gage  and  John  S.  Newhouse,  and  their  suc- 
cessors, be  and  are  hereby  created  a  corporate  boJy,  under  the 
name  and  style  of  "The  Douglas  Monument  Association,"  and  by 
that  name  may  sue  and  be  sued,  shall  have  a  seal,  and  exercise 
all  the  powers  necessary  to  carry  out  and  effect  the  purposes  of 
the  act. 

SEC.  2.  The  said  corporators  shall  constitute  the  first  board  of 
trustees  of  the  Douglas  Monument  Association;  and  their  division 
into  three  equal  sections  (each  section  to  retire  alternately  every 
five  years),  heretofore  made  by  the  preliminary  organization  of 
said  association,  is  hereby  ratified  and  confirmed;  and  all  vacan- 
cies in  the  board  made  by  such  retirement,  resignation,  disability, 
death  or  otherwise,  shall  be  filled  by  the  remaining  members  of 
said  board. 

SEC.  3.  All  persons  contributing  not  less  than  the  sum  of  one 
dollar  to  its  objects,  shall  be  considered  members  of  the  associa- 
tion, and  be  entitled  to  a  diploma  or  certificate  of  membership. 

SEC.  4.  The  said  corporation  is  created  for  the  purpose  of  erect- 
ing a  suitable  monument  in  honor  of  the  late  Stephen  A.  Douglas, 
to  be  placed  over  or  near  his  remains,  at  Cottage  Grove,  near  the 
city  of  Chicago;  and  shall  have  power  to  select  and  decide  upon  a 
plan  for  said  monument;  to  adopt  plans  for  raising  and  collecting 
contributions  in  aid  of  its  construction  and  completion;  and  to  con- 
tract for  the  construction  of  the  proposed  monument. 

SEC.  5.  The  said  board  of  trustees  may  organize  by  the  election 
of  a  president,  vice-president,  secretary  (who  may  be  outside  their 
body),  treasurer,  and  also  an  executive  committee,  together  with 
such  other  officers  or  agents  as  they  may  deem  proper;  and  they 
may  make  and  establish  such  rules  and  regulations  relating  to  its 
meetings  and  organization,  the  duties  of  its  officers  and  agents,  and 
the  transaction  of  its  business,  as  in  their  judgment  shall  be 
thought  best. 


22  HISTORY    OF    THE 

SEC.  6.  The  said  .corporation  shall  have  power  to  hold  such  real 
estate,  whether  acquired  by  purchase,  gift  or  devise,  as  may  be 
necessary  for  the  purpose  of  effecting  the  purposes  hereinbefore  men- 
tioned, and  also  have  power  to  take,  receive  or  hold  real  estate  or 
personal  effects,  that  may  be  granted,  devised,  bequeathed  or  do- 
nated to  said  corporation,  and  to  sell  and  convey  the  same  for  the 
purpose  of  aiding  the  erection  and  care  of  said  monument  or  im- 
proving the  grounds  belonging  thereto. 

SEC.  7.  The  board  of  trustees  shall  publish  a  full  account  of 
their  proceedings,  and  of  their  receipts  and  expenditures  in  behalf 
of  said  monument,  duly  certified,  as  often  as  once  in  each  year,  for 
the  information  of  the  members  of  the  association  and  the  public. 

SEC.  8.  The  proceedings  and  organization  of  the  Douglas  Mon- 
ument Association  had  under  articles  of  association  adopted  on  the 
8th  day  of  November,  1861,  are  hereby  confirmed,  and  shall  be 
treated  with  like  effect  as  if  made  by  the  corporation  now  created 
by  this  act. 

SEC.  9.  This  act  shall  take  effect  and  be  in  force  from  and  after 
its  passage. 

Approved  February  11,  1803. 

The  work  of  collecting  funds  to  carry  forward  the  object 
was  now  the  order.  A  temporary  place  of  meeting  for  the 
trustees  was  obtained,  and  some  cheap  office  furniture  and 
stationery  purchased.  Also  an  engraving  on  steel  for  diplo- 
mas of  membership  and  printing  of  pamphlets  and  circulars 
were  ordered,  special  agents  were  appointed  to  canvass  for  sub- 
scriptions, and  local  agencies  established  in  different  places. 
But  the  great  Rebellion  absorbed  all  interests.  "  Camp  Doug- 
las,"  adjacent  to  the  grave  of  the  namesake,  with  its  first 
installment  of  Confederate  prisoners  of  war  from  Fort  Donelson, 
and  the  thousands  of  Union  soldiers,  to  the  end  of  the  conflict 
attracted  more  attention  than  the  humble  grave  of  Douglas. 
The  almost  universal  answer  to  appeals  for  money  to  build  the 
proposed  monument,  was,  "Wait  till  the  war  is  over;  the 
government  must  have  aid,  and  the  sick,  wounded  and  dying 
soldiers  must  first  be  cared  for;  and  if  the  cause  of  the  Union 
fails,  then  no  monuments  need  be  erected  to  Douglas  or  any 


DOUGLAS    MONUMENT.  23 

other  statesman."  "Who  could  press  for  subscriptions  alter  such 
answers  ?  Yet,  in  the  face  of  all  these  difficulties,  it  was 
pressed  and  never  lost  sight  of. 

New  men — statesmen,  patriots  and  heroes  came  upon  the 
stage  and  went  oif  in  rapid  succession,  completely  overshadow- 
ing for  a  time  those  great  men  who  died  before  the  struggle 
began.  In  a  brief  time  contributions  were  being  solicited  not 
only  for  the  relief  of  the  sick  and  wounded  soldiers,  but  for  the 
dead  soldiers'  monuments. 

The  agents  of  the  association  soon  threw  up  their  commis- 
sions, as  most  of  them  were  not  able  to  collect  sufficient  to  pay 
their  expenses. 

The  authorities  of  the  University  of  Chicago  had  their  agents, 
Gen.  U.  F.  Linder  and  others,  in  the  field  canvassing  and  lec- 
turing for  funds  for  the  "  Douglas  monument"  (meaning  the 
tower  of  that  institution)  some  months  before  the  monument 
association  got  organized  and  at  work. 

This  action  on  the  part  of  the  University  proved  a  serious 
drawback  on  the  outstart,  as  it  was  difficult  to  make  people  un- 
stand  amid  the  turmoil  and  prevailing  excitement,  which  object 
was  the  proper  one  to  contribute  to,  and  probably  some  contri- 
butions to  agents  were  made  and  applied  contrary  to  the  donors' 
intentions.  During  this  "  dark  age  "  of  the  war,  the  writer  sus- 
tained great  difficulty  in  keeping  the  grounds  in  which  the 
grave  of  Douglas  was  located  free  from  hospital  and  general 
camp  purposes.  The  grave  was  infested  by  all  manner  of  tres- 
passers and  desecrators,  such  as  usually  hover  about  military 
camps. 

For  some  time  after  the  association  organized,  the  meetings 
of  the  trustees  were  regularly  attended,  but  owing  to  the  pub- 
lic attention  being  so  completely  absorbed  in  the  daily  and  ex- 
citing events  of  the  war,  and  after  its  close  it  was  difficult 
to  obtain  quorums  for  the  transaction  of  business. 

In  1863,  during  the  absence  of  President  "Walter  B.  Scates  in 


24  HISTORY    OF   THE 

the  army,  the  following  circular  was  addressed  to  the  members 
of  the  State  Legislature: 

CHICAGO,  May  22, 1863. 

Sir: — The  undersigned,  members  of  the  executive  committee 
of  the  trustees  of  The  Douglas  Monument  Association,  desire  to 
make  a  brief  statement  of  their  labors,  and  to  respectfully  ask 
your  efficient  aid  and  co-operation  in  the  furtherance  of  their  patri- 
otic endeavors  to  rear,  in  behalf  of  the  people,  a  befitting  monu- 
ment over  the  remains  of  the  late  STEPHEN  A.  DOUGLAS. 

It  is  now  two  years  since  his  lamented  death,  and  yet  no  stone 
is  erected  to  mark  his  grave,  notwithstanding  the  many  pledges 
made  by  the  people  of  Illinois,  irrespective  of  party,  to  his  be- 
reaved family  before  his  burial,  that  his  remains  should  be  appro- 
priately honored  were  they  but  allowed  to  repose  within  the  state 
of  his  adoption. 

The  Monument  Association  was  formed  eighteen  months  ago, 
for  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  the  wish  of  the  public  by  raising 
funds  adequate  for  the  erection  of  a  suitable  monument;  but 
owing  mainly  to  the  extraordinary  and  melancholy  condition  of 
the  country,  it  has  proved  impossible  thus  far  to  make  any  mate- 
rial collections  sufficient  to  purchase  the  land  and  commence  the 
work,  as  it  would  have  doubtless  been  easy  to  do  in  times  of  peace 
and  prosperity,  having  only  accumulated  about  twenty-five  hun- 
dred dollars.  But  the  committee  are  assured  from  experience,  that 
should  the  State  make  a  donation,  the  people  at  large  would  then 
feel  a  confidence  in  the  speedy  success  of  the  object,  and  would 
doubtless  respond  more  liberally  in  inal"'ng  up  any  deficiency. 

The  undersigned  committee  earnestly  appeal  to  the  legislators 
of  the  State  to  vote  an  appropriation  to  aid  them  in  the  immediate 
accomplishment  of  this  noble  purpose. 

To  carry  out  the  plans  of  the  association,  the  sum  of  $25,000  for 
the  purchase  of  land,  and  $50,000  for  the  erection  of  the  monu- 
ment, is  desired  from  the  State. 

It  should  not  be  said  by  the  world  that  Illinois  has  forgotten  her 
pledges,  made  over  his  dead  body,  and  that  the  grave  of  him  whose 
whole  life  was  spent  in  her  service,  must  go  ur  cared  for,  without 
a  single  stone  to  record  those  eminent  services,  and  mark  the  spot 
where  he  reposes. 

The  rearing  of  this  tribute  of  respect  to  his  memory  should  be 
done  in  part  by  the  people,  through  their  representatives,  as  such 
action  would  be  alike  honorable  to  the  late  Mr.  Douglas,  and  to 


DOULGAS   MONUMENT.  25 

the  State  he  so  faithfully  served;  and  this  duty  ought  not  to  de- 
volve upon  his  bereaved  family,  whose  only  inheritance  was  his 
illustrious  name,  and  who  have  but  recently  been  visited  by  an- 
other sad  and  irreparable  loss  in  the  death  of  a  father  and  pro- 
tector, to  whose  affectionate  care  they  had  been  confided. 
Very  Respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servants, 

THOMAS  B.  BRYAN,  1st  Vice  President, 
JOHN  B.  TURNER,  2nd  Vice  President, 
DAVID  A.  GAGE,  Treasurer, 
JAMES  DUGGAN,  Bishop  of  Chicago, 
FRANCIS  C.  SHERMAN,  Mayor  of  Chicago, 
LEONARD  W.  VOI/K,  Secretary. 


The  following  advertisement  was  published  in  the  Chicago 
papers : 

At  a  meeting  of  the  trustees  of  The  Douglas  Monument  Associa- 
tion, held  on  the  23d  instant,  the  executive  committee  were  author- 
ized to  procure  a  design  for  the  proposed  monument,  the  cost  of 
which  not  to  exceed  $50,000.  The  design  or  designs  to  be  sub- 
mitted on  or  before  the  25th  of  March  next,  it  being  the  intention 
of  the  trustees  to  commence  the  work  immediately  after  adopting 
a  plan,  with  as  little  delay  as  possible. 

A  sum  not  to  exceed  seventy-five  dollars  ($75)  will  be  paid  for 
the  plan  adopted,  and  the  committee  will  not  be  responsible  for  any 
design  or  designs  that  may  get  injured  or  lost. 

In  this  connection  it  is  ordered  by  the  committee  that  all  agents 
of  the  association  are  hereby  earnestly  requested  to  make  immedi- 
ate returns  to  the  association  of  all  moneys  which  they  may  have 
collected,  and  those  agents  who  cannot  further  act  in  behalf  of  the 
above  object  are  requested  to  return  their  commissions,  diplomas, 
&c.,  belonging  to  the  association. 

The  friends  of  this  cause,  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  who  will 
give  information  to  the  association  of  any  collections  made  by 
authorized  persons  or  otherwise,  and  not  forwarded  by  them,  will 
render  a  great  service  to  the  society,  and  which  will  be  duly  appre- 
ciated by  the  public. 

F.  C.  SHERMAN, 

D.  A.  GAGE, 
JOHN  B.  TURNER, 
JAMES  DUGGAN, 
Executive  Committee. 
CHICAGO,  January  25.  1864. 


20  HISTORY    OF    THE 

An  adjoin  ned  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  was  held  at 
the  Sherman  House  July  14,  1864,  for  the  purpose  of  selecting 
a  design  for  the  proposed  monument.  There  were  present  at 
the  meeting,  Messrs.  Thos.  B.  Bryan,  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Dug- 
gan,  Rev.  Win.  Barry,  D.  A.  Gage,  S.  "W.  Fuller,  John  M. 
Douglas,  W.  C.  Goudy  and  F.  C.  Sherman.  Mr.  Bryan,  First 
Vice  President,  occupied  the  chair,  and  Mr.  Gage,  Treasurer, 
acted  as  Secretary.  There  were  but  two  competing  designs 
presented — both  models.  After  discussing  the  merits  and 
practicability  of  the  designs  submitted,  a  ballot  was  taken  re- 
sulting in  the  adoption  of  the  design  of  Leonard  "W.  Yolk,  by 
seven  affirmative  votes  to  one  negative.  The  design  will  be 
described  further  on. 

During  the  legislative  session  of  1864-5,  the  following  bill 
was  drawn  by  Mr.  Goudy,  of  the  association,  and  introduced  by 
Col.  A.  F.  Stevenson,  member  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, and  through  whose  indefatigable  efforts  passed  both 
branches  of  the  Legislature. 

AN    ACT    TO    APPROPRIATE    TWENTY-FIVE    THOUSAND     DOLLARS    TO 

PURCHASE    THE    TRACT    OF    LAND    IN    WHICH     REPOSE 

THE  REMAINS  OF  STEPHEN  A.  DOUGLAS. 

SEC.  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  people  of  the  State  of  Illinois, 
represented  in  the  General  Assembly,  that  the  Governor  of  the 
State  of  Illinois  is  hereby  authorized  to  purchase,  in  the  name 
of  the  State  of  Illinois,  the  lot  of  ground  in  which  now  re- 
pose the  remains  of  STEPHEN  A.  DOUGLAS,  deceased,  to- wit: 
Lot  one  (1)  of  the  lower  tier  of  Oakenwald  subdivision  of  part  of 
the  south  half  of  the  north-east  quarter  of  section  34,  township  39 
north,  range  14  east,  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  Cook  county,  Illinois, 
and  now  owned  by  Mrs.  A.  Douglas;  the  same  to  be  held  as  a 
burying  place  for  said  deceased,  and  for  no  othe^  purpose;  and  the 
sum  of  twenty-five  thousand  dollars,  or  such  less  sum  as  may  be 
required,  is  hereby  appropriated  out  of  any  unappropriated  money 
in  the  treasury.  And,  upon  the  certificate  of  the  Governor  as  to 
the  amount  required,  and  that  he  has  received  an  abstract  of  title 
and  a  proper  deed,  conveying  the  fee  of  the  above  described 
premises,  as  herein  required,  being  presented  to  the  Auditor  of 


DOUGLAS   MONUMENT.  27 

Public  Accounts,  he  shall  draw  his  warrant  for  the  amount  thus 
certified  to,  as  a  full  payment  of  the  consideration  money  for  the 
conveyance  as  aforesaid;  and  the  Governor  is  hereby  requested  to 
pay  such  sum  of  money,  appropriated  as  above,  to  Mrs.  A.  Doug-las, 
and  to  no  other  person,  whatsoever. 

SEC.  3.  This  act  shall  be  deemed  a  public  act,  and  shall  take 
effect  and  be  in  force  from  and  after  its  passage. 

Approved  February  16,  1805. 

UNITED    STATES    OF  AMERICA, 
STATE  OF  ILLINOIS, 

I,  Sharon  Tyndale,  Secretary  of  State  of  the  State  of  Illinois, 
do  hereby  certify  that  the  foregoing  is  a  true  copy  of  an  enrolled 
law  now  on  file  in  my  office. 

In  witness  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand,  and  the  great 
••- •;•, •••••••••: ;  seal  of  State,  at  the  city  of  Spring-field,  this  22nd 

Great  Seal  J 

of  the         I  day  of  March,  A.  D.  1865. 

S:J  SHARON  TYNDALE,  Sec'y  of  State. 


REPORT  OF  LEGISLATIVE  PROCEEDINGS  FEB.  3o,  1865. 


PURCHASE  OF  THE  GRAVE  OF  DOUGLAS. 

THE  finance  committee  made  two  reports  upon  the  proposed  ap- 
propriation of  $25,000  for  the  purchase  of  the  grounds  in  which 
sleep  the  remains  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas.  Messrs.  Noble,  Huntly, 
Strevell,  Mclntyre  and  Hill  sign  the  majority  report,  which  is 
adverse  to  the  appropriation,  and  Messrs.  Platt,  Logan,  Morrill  and 
Patten  present  the  views  of  the  minority  in  its  favor. 

The  majority  report  is,  in  brief,  as  follows:  That,  while  the  gov- 
ernment is  engaged  in  subduing  the  rebellion,  it  is  the  duty  of  all 
good  citizens  to  dedicate  themselves  and  every  available  means 
within  their  control  to  the  support  of  that  government,  leaving 
minor  objects  to  be  adjusted  until  after  the  war;  and  that,  until 
that  time,  our  patriot  dead,  both  heroes  and  statesmen,  will  remain 
enshrined  in  the  hearts  of  the  people. 

The  minority  report  expresses  the  opinion:  "  That  the  state  of  Il- 
linois should  own  the  ground  wherein  repose  the  remains  of  Sena- 
tor Douglas.  No  man  ever  claimed  a  home  in  Illi'nois  who  did 
more  for  the  state  than  he  who  now  sleeps  his  last  sleep  on  the 


28  HISTORY    OF   THE 

shores  of  Lake  Michigan.  While  living,  it  was  his  pride  to  make 
Illinois  in  fact  what  was  conceded  to  her  in  prospect — the  glory  of 
the  republic.  As  a  statesman,  none  in  his  day  claimed  to  be  his 
superior,  while  all  parties  drank  of  his  wisdom  and  honored  him  as 
a  devoted  patriot. 

"At  his  death  his  devoted  wife  desired  to  remove  his  remains  to 
Washington,  there  to  be  interred  in  the  national  burying  ground, 
where  all  could  claim  the  privilege  of  bowing  at  the  tomb  of  Amer- 
ica's noble  son,  and  all  do  honor,  regardless  of  the  claims  of  Illi- 
nois, who  gave  him  to  the  world. 

"  But  our  noble  Governor  interfered,  and  besought  his  afflicted 
wife  to  permit  the  remains  to  slumber  in  his  adopted  state,  that 
Illinois  might  do  honor  to  his  memory.  She  yielded  to  Illinois, 
and  the  remains  were  buried  in  his  own  beautiful  Oakenwald. 

"It  is  well  known  that  Senator  Douglas  left  but  little  for  the 
support  of  his  family.  His  young  and  accomplished  wife  and  two 
noble  boys  were  rich  in  the  honors  of  their  noble  husband  and 
parent,  but  poor  in  the  means  of  worldly  support;  and,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  relieving  their  present  necessities,  Mrs.  Douglas  has  con- 
sented to  part  with  the  ground  where  sleep  the  remains  of  her  be- 
loved husband,  and  deed  it  to  Illinois,  for  the  sum  of  $25,000. 
The  state,  in  our  judgment,  ought  to  own  this  sacred  soil.  The 
state,  in  our  judgment,  ought  to  relieve  their  present  wants;  and 
we,  therefore,  feeling  a  state  pride  in  this  matter,  have  no  hesita- 
tation  in  recommending  this  general  assembly  to  purchase  the 
ground  so  generously  offered." 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Stevenson,  of  Cook,  the  subject  was  made  the 
special  order  for  Monday  afternoon  at  2  o  'clock. 


By  the  following  letter  of  Governor  Oglesby  to  Mrs.  Doug- 
las, it  will  appear  that  the  action  of  the  State  of  Illinois  in 
reference  to  the  purchase  of  the  burial  place  of  her  lamented 
statesman  has  been  consummated.  It  is  an  act  creditable  to 
our  State  : 

STATE  OP  ILLINOIS,  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  ) 
SPRINGFIELD,  April  5,  1865.      ) 

MRS.  ADELE  DOUGLAS,  Washington  City,  D.  C. : 

DEAR  MADAM  :  Your  notice  of  the  Gth  ultimo  was  received 
some  days  ago,  with  the  deed  to  lot  one,  in  Oakenwald,  Chicago, 


DOUGLAS   MONUMENT.  29 

Cook   County,  Illinois.      Herewith    I    enclose   you  exchange   on 
New  York  for  $25,000,  as  requested. 

I  take  the  liberty  to  inclose  you  an  authenticated  copy  of  the 
Act  of  the  Legislature  of  this  State,  which  refers  to  the  same 
subject. 

I  take  pleasure  in  informing  you  that  all  the  forms  have  been 
complied  with,  proper  and  necessary  to  vest  in  the  State  of  Illi- 
nois the  title  to  the  ground  upon  which  lie  buried,  in  that  State 
he  loved  so  well  and  honored  so  long,  the  sacred  remains  of  your 
devoted  husband  and  Illinois'  noble  patriot  and  statesman. 
Always  jealous  of  his  immortal  fame,  the  people  of  Illinois  would 
not  be  satisfied  to  suffer  the  soil  of  his  last  home  on  earth  to  fall 
a  heritage  to  any  other  than  their  own  descendants. 

With  assurances  of  the  highest  personal  esteem,  I  am,  most 
respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

RICHARD  J.  OGLESBY, 

Governor  of  Illinois. 


STATEMENT  OF  THE  TREASURER  AND  SECRETARY- 
RECEIPTS— EXPENDITURES— MEMBERSHIP. 


THE  following  report  of  the  past  action  and  present  condition  of 
the  Douglas  Monument  Association  has  just  been  presented  by 
Messrs.  D.  A.  Gage,  treasurer,  and  L.  W.  Volk,  secretary: 

On  behalf  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  Douglas  Monument 
Association,  and  for  the  information  of  the  public,  the  treasurer 
and  secretary  would  respectfully  make  a  brief  statement  of  the 
affairs  of  the  society — more  particularly  of  the  funds  collected  and 
expended  since  its  organization. 

The  cash  receipts  to  February  13,  1865,  amount  to  the  total  sum 
of  seven  thousand  five  hundred  and  ten  ($7,510.94)  dollars,  includ- 
ing two  hundred  and  ten  ($210)  dollars  interest  allowed  by  the 
treasurer. 

The  expenditures  to  same  date,  three  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  ninety-five  ($3,895.29)  dollars,  leaving  a  balance  of  cash  in  the 
treasury  of  three  thousand  six  hundred  and  fifteen  ($3,615.65)  dol- 
lars, a  gain  since  the  last  published  statement  of  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  ninety  ($1,890.37)  dollars,  which  latter  sum  was  nearly 
all  obtained  at  Douglas'  grave,  from  the  sale  of  pictures. 


30  HISTORY   OF   THE 

The  expenditures  would  appear  unduly  large,  without  being  ex- 
plained by  the  fact  that  nearly  the  entire  amount  received  has 
been  from  the  sale  of  engravings  of  Douglas,  diplomas  of  member- 
ship, photographs  of  the  monument,  etc.,  all  of  which  have  cost  a 
large  proportion  of  the  amount  paid  out,  together  with  the  com- 
missions to  agents  for  selling  them.  But  few  bona  fide  cash  sub- 
scriptions, comparatively,  have  ever  been  made  to  this  object,  an 
equivalent  of  some  kind  having  in  most  cases  been  given  to  the 
subscribers,  who  have  desired  to  purchase  a  picture  of  some  kind 
as  a  memento  of  Douglas,  or  of  their  visit  to  his  grave,  and  the 
profits  on  such  subscriptions  or  purchases  now  mainly  constitute 
the  fund  in  the  treasury. 

Therefore,  the  amount  chiefly  expended  has  been  for  the  pur- 
chase of  engravings  of  Douglas,  diplomas  of  membership,  photo- 
graphs of  the  monument,  and  for  printing  of  pamphlets  and  circu- 
lars, and  also  office  furniture  and  rent. 

Of  the  amount  expended,  the  secretary  has  received  altogether 
during  over  three  years,  for  services,  seven  hundred  and  sixty-nine 
(676&.70)  dollars.  No  expenses  have  been  incurred  for  the  past 
two  years  for  fuel  and  lights,  the  same  having  been  provided  by 
the  secretary  without  charge  to  the  society,  nor  has  any  expen- 
ditures been  made,  as  the  vouchers  filed  in  the  office  will  show, 
except  what  was  necessary  to  conduct  the  business  of  the  associa- 
tion. 

Besides  the  balance  of  cash,  there  are  two  valuable  lots  of  land, 
situated  near  the  grave  of  Douglas,  donated  and  deeded  to  the  as- 
sociation by  the  mother  and  sister  of  the  late  Mr.  Douglas,  to  aid 
in  the  erection  of  the  monument,  and  probably  worth  three  thou- 
sand ($3,000)  dollars. 

It  is  expected  that  a  few  hundred  dollars  more  may  be  in  the 
hands  of  parties  who  have  acted  as  agents  in  different  parts  of  the 
country,  and  who  are  hereby  requested  to  report  immediately  to 
the  association  any  sums  which  they  may  hold,  as  every  dollar 
that  has  been  collected  will  soon  be  needed,  with  considerable  be- 
sides, to  enable  the  committee  to  make  any  material  progress  in 
the  erection  of  the  monument. 

The  society  numbers  seven  honorary  members  of  the  board  of 
trustees,  two  hundred  and  fifty  honorary  members  of  the  associa- 
tion, two  hundred  and  thirty-two  of  which  were  editors  of  news- 
papers, who  paid  for  their  membership  by  advertising  the  society's 
circular  for  a  season  in  their  papers;  and  two  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred and  five  members  of  the  association,  in  all  three  thousand 
and  sixty-two  members. 


DOUGLAS    MONUMENT.  31 

The  Legislature  of  Illinois  having,  during  its  late  session,  made 
an  appropriation  for  the  purchase  of  the  Douglas  burial  lot  at  Cot- 
tage Grove,  in  the  southern  limits  of  Chicago,  it  is  to  be  hoped 
that  the  trustees  of  the  Monument  Association  will  soon  hold  a 
meeting  and  take  energetic  measures  for  increasing  the  fund  and 
commencing  work  on  the  monument. 

WARRANTY  DEED  OF  THE  SAID  LOT  TO  THE  STATE  OF  ILLINOIS. 

"This  indenture,  made  this  first  day  of  March,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-five  (A.  D.  18G5), 
between  Adele  Douglas,  widow  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  deceased, 
late  of  Cook  county,  State  of  Illinois,  party  of  the  first  part,  and 
Richard  J.  Oglesby,  Governor  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  his  suc- 
cessors in  office,  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  people  of  the  State 
of  Illinois,  of  the  second  part:  Witnesseth,  that  the  said  party  of 
the  first  part,  for  and  in  consideration  of  the  sum  of  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars  ($25,000),  in  hand  paid  by  the  said  party  of  the 
second  part,  the  receipt  whereof  is  hereby  acknowledged,  and  the 
said  party  of  the  second  part  forever  released  and  discharged  there- 
from, has  granted,  bargained,  sold,  remised,  released,  conveyed, 
aliened  and  confirmed,  and  by  these  presents  does  grant,  bargain, 
sell,  remise,  release,  convey,  alien  and  confirm  unto  the  said  party 
of  the  second  part,  and  to  his  successors  and  assigns  forever,  all 
the  following  described  lot,  piece  or  parcel  of  land,  situate  in  the 
county  of  Cook  and  State  of  Illinois,  and  known  and  described  as 
follows,  to  wit:  Lot  one  (1),  in  the  lower  tier  of  Oakenwald,  subdi- 
vision (fronting  on  Woodland  Park  and  Douglas  Place)  of  a  part 
of  the  south  half  of  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  thirty-four  (34), 
township  thirty-nine  (39),  north  range  fourteen  (14),  east  of  the 
third  (3rd)  principal  meridian,  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  together  with 
all  and  singular  the  hereditaments  and  appurtenances  thereunto 
belonging  or  in  anywise  appertaining,  and  the  reversion  and  rever- 
sions, remainder  arid  remainders,  rents,  issues  and  profits  thereof; 
and  all  the  estate,  right,  title,  interest,  claim  or  demand  whatso- 
ever of  the  said  party  of  the  first  part,  either  in  law  or  equity,  of, 
in  and  to  the  above  bargained  premises,  with  the  hereditaments 
and  appurtenances;  to  have  and  to  hold  the  said  premises  above 
bargained  and  described,  with  the  appurtenances,  unto  the  said 
party  of  the  second  part,  his  heirs,  successors  and  assigns  forever. 

And  the  said  Adele  Douglas,  party  of  the  first  part,  for  herself, 
her  heirs,  executors  and  administrators,  does  covenant,  grant,  bar- 
gain and  agree  to  and  with  the  said  party  of  the  second  part,  his 


HISTORY    OF    TITE 


successors  and  assigns,  that  at  the  time  of  the  unsealing  and  de- 
livering of  these  presents,  she  is  well  seized  of  the  premises  above 
conveyed,  as  a  good,  sure,  perfect,  absolute  and  indefeasible  es- 
tate of  inheritance  in  law,  in  fee  simple;  and  has  good  right,  full 
power  and  lawful  authority  to  grant,  bargain,  sell  and  convey  the 
same  in  manner  and  form  aforesaid:  and  that  the  same  are  free  and 
clear  from -all  former  and  other  grants,  bargains,  sales,  liens,  taxes, 
assessments  and  incumbrances  of  what  kind  and  nature  soever; 
and  the  above  bargained  premises  in  the  quiet  and  peaceable  pos- 
session of  the  said  party  of  the  second  part,  his  successors  and  as- 
signs, against  all  and  every  other  person  or  persons  lawfully  claim- 
ing or  to  claim  the  whole  or  any  part  thereof,  the  said  party  of  tlie 
first  part  shall  and  will  warrant  and  forever  defend. 

This  deed  being  executed  in  conformity  with  an  Act  of  the  Leg- 
islature of  the  State  of  Illinois  authorizing  the  Governor  of  said 
State  to  purchase  the  premises  herein  described,  and  the  said  Adele 
Douglas,  party  of  the  first  part,  hereby  expressly  waives  and  re- 
leases all  right,  benefit,  privilege,  advantage  and  exemption  un- 
der or  by  virtue  of  any  and  all  statutes  of  the  State  of  Illinois, 
providing  for  the  exemption  of  homesteads  from  sale  on  execution, 
or  otherwise,  and  especially  under  the  Act  entitled  "An  Act  to 
Exempt  homesteads  from  sale  on  execution,"  passed  by  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  A.  D.,  1857,  and  approved  Feb- 
ruary 11,  A.  D.  1857,  and  an  Act  entitled  "An  Act  to  amend  an 
Act  entitled  'An  Act  to  Exempt  Homesteads  from  sale  on  execu- 
tion,'" passed  by  said  Assembly  A.  D.  1857,  and  approved  Feb- 
ruary 17,  A.  D.  1857. 
In  witness  whereof,  the  said  party  of  the  first  part  has  hereunto 

set  her  hand  and  seal,  the  day  and  year  first  above  written. 
[Signed]  ADELE  DOUGLAS, 

Signed,  sealed  and  delivered  in  presence  of 

rfr|m     [Signed]  JOHX  S.  HOLLIXGSHEAD, 

1535?  JOHX  S.  HOLLIXGSIIEAD,  JR. 


U.  S. 

U.  S. 

U.  S. 

March, 

March. 

Miirca. 

Internal  Rev- 

Internal Rev- 

Internal Rev- 

enue. 

enue. 

enue. 

1865, 

1865. 

1865. 

One  Dollar. 

Five  Dollars. 

Ten  Dollars. 

Mortgage. 

Probate  Will. 

Mortgage. 

A.  D. 

A.  D. 

A.  D. 

10. 

Five. 

in. 

DISTRICT  OP  COLUMBIA,      ) 


Washington  County,  ( 
I,  John  S.  Hollingshead,  a  Notary  Public  in  and  for  said  county, 


DOUGLAS   COTTAGE,   COTTAGE  GROVE,    BUILT    1853. 


DOULGAS   MONUMENT.  33 

in   the  district  aforesaid,  do   hereby  certify  that  Adele   Douglas, 
who  is  personally  known  to   me  to    be    the  same    person   whose 
name  is  subscribed  to  the  foregoing  warranty  deed,  appeared  be- 
fore me  this  day,  in  person,  and  acknowledged  that  she  signed, 
sealed  and  delivered  the  said  instrument  of  writing  as  her  free 
and  voluntary  act,  for  the  uses  and  purposes  therein  set  forth. 
Given  under  my  hand  and  notarial  seal,  this  sixth  day  of  March, 
A.  D.  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-five  (1865). 
fiJKfe  [Signed]  JOHN  S.  HOLLINGSHEAD, 

•^aB*r"  Notary  Public,  Washington  County. 


Early  in  the  winter  of  1866,  the  writer  was  authorized  by 
the  Trustees  of  the  Association  to  locate  the  site  of  the  monu- 
ment, and  in  the  performance  of  which  duty  he  fixed  it  as  near- 
ly a3  he  could  remember  on  the  precise  spot  which  Senator 
Douglas  pointed  out  to  him  in  the  summer  of  1855,  as  the 
place  whereon  he  intended  to  build  his  permanent  residence. 

At  the  time,  the  Senator  was  spending  part  of  the  summer 
in  his  little  one-story  frame  cottage,  standing  among  the  primi- 
tive oaks  in  what  is  now  known  as  "Woodland  Park,  and  which 

has,  since  his  death,  been  moved  by  the  writer,  and  which  is 
rV*l|e 

occupied  by  him  on  Douglas  Avenue  adjoining  the  monument 
grounds.  The  design  of  the  monument  having  been  adopted 
as  before  stated,  proposals  were  invited  by  advertisement  for 
the  construction  of  the  foundations  and  tomb  of  Illinois 
limestone. 

'About  a  half-dozen  sealed  bids  were  received  and  opened 
by  the  building  committee,  consisting  of  Mayor  F.  C.  Sher- 
man, John  B.  Turner  and  D.  A.  Gage,  and  the  contract  was 
awarded  to  the  lowest  bidders  at  $10,700. 

The  work  was  begun  immediately,  and  soon  after  prelimi- 
nary steps  taken  to  lay  the  corner  stone  with  fitting  ceremonies. 
The  following  action  was  taken  by  the  Board  of  Trustees,  by 
inviting  the  Hon.  Win.  II.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State,  to  de- 
liver an  address  upon  the  occasion. 
3 


34  HISTORY    OF    THE 

LAYING  OF  THE  CORNER-STONE. 


To  THE  HON.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 

Secretary  of  State,  Washington  : 

Sir  :  The  undersigned,  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  The  Douglas 
Monument  Association,  would  most  respectfully  invite  you  to  be 
present  and  deliver  the  oration  on  the  occasion  of  laying  the 
corner-stone  of  the  proposed  monument,  in  honor  of  the  late  Sena- 
tor Douglas. 

Profoundly  appreciating  your  eminent  abilities  as  an  orator, 
statesman  and  patriot,  and  also  your  personal  acquaintance  with 
Mr.  Douglas,  being  cotemporaries  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States  for  so  long  a  period,  it  is  earnestly  hoped  that  your  public 
duties  and  health  will  permit  you  to  accept  the  invitation  hereby 
respectfully  tendered. 

It  is  the  intention  to  lay  the  corner-stone  in  the  city  of  Chicago, 
on  the  ground  recently  purchased  by  the  State  of  Illinois,  some 
time  during  the  month  of  May  or  June  next. 

The  Trustees  would  be  pleased,  however,  to  conform  to  your  own 
convenience,  as  to  the  precise  day,  should  you  consent  to  confer 
upon  them,  and  the  object  the  honor  of  your  presence. 

JAMESDUGGAN,  JOHN  B.  TURNER, 

WILLIAM  B.  ODGEN,     THOMAS    B.  BRYAN, 
DAVID  A.  GAGE,  WILLIAM  C.  GOUDY, 

JOHN  L.  WILSON,  SAMUEL  W.  FULLER, 

WM.  A.  RICHARDSON,     WILLIAM  BARRY, 
SAMUEL  H.  TREAT,         JOHN  M.  DOUGLAS, 
JAMES  C.  ALLEN,  F.  C.  SHERMAN, 

JOHN  D.  CATON  JOHN  DEMENT, 

WALTER  B.  SCATES, 

LEONARD  W.  VOLK,  Secretary. 
CHICAGO,  March  22,  1866. 


WK.  SEWARD   S  REPLY. 


DEPARTMENT  or  STATE,  ) 
WASHINGTON,  April  1,  1866.      \ 
To  THE  RIGHT  REVEREND  JAMES  DUGGAN,  D.  D., 

AND  OTHERS,  CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS  ! 

Gentlemen: — I  have  received  your  kind  letter  of  the  22d  ulti- 


DOUGLAS    MONUMENT.  35 

mo.  It  informs  me  of  the  purpose  of  the  Douglas  Monument  As- 
sociation to  lay,  in  the  month  of  May  or  June  next,  the  corner-stone 
of  the  proposed  monument  in  honor  of  the  late  Senator  Douglas, 
and  that  the  association  has  been  pleased  to  invite  me  to  deliver 
the  oration  on  that  occasion.  In  reply,  I  may  inform  you  that  I 
should  consider  it  an  agreeable  duty  to  accept  this  invitation, 
which  does  not  exaggerate  the  regard  in  which  I  hold  the  memory 
of  Stephen  A.  Douglas.  The  last  of  his  days  in  Washington  were 
employed  in  consultation  with  President  Lincoln  and  myself  in  or- 
ganizing the  resistance  to  disunion.  Unless  two  events,  which  are 
now  mentioned,  should  concur  hereafter,  I  could  not  expect  to  be 
able  to  assume  the  proposed  duty  at  a  time  so  early  as  May  or  June. 
First,  my  returning  health  must  become  more  distinctly  established; 
second,  official  duties  must  become  less  exacting.  At  present,  I 
am  prevented,  therefore,  from  making  a  promise  which  depends 
so  materially  upon  the  future  for  its  realization. 

Believe  me  to  be,  gentlemen,  you  very  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWAKD. 


THE  CORNER-STONE  TO  BE  LAID  ON  THE  13TH  OF 
JUNE  — GOVERNOR  OGLESBY  TO  DELIVER  THE 
ORATION. 


AN  adjourned  meeting  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  Douglas 
Monument  Association  was  held  at  the  Sherman  House  on  the  31th 
May,  1866,  Hon.  John  B.  Turner,  Second  Vice  President,  in  the 
chair,  at  which  meeting  several  vacancies  existing  in  the  board 
were  filled  by  the  re-election  of  Walter  B.  Scates,  S.  M.  Nick- 
erson,  and  L.  W.  Volk,  were  also  elected  as  trustees;  the  election  of 
officers  resulting  as  follows: 

President — Walter  B.  Scates. 

First  Vice  President — John  B.  Turner. 

Second  Vice  President — John  M.  Douglas. 

Treasurer — David  A.  Gage. 

Secretary — Leonard  W.  Volk. 

Executive  Committee — W.  B.  Scates,  President;  J.  B.  Turner, 
First  Vice  President;  F.  C.  Sherman;  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Duggan; 
D.  A.  Gage,  Treasurer;  L.  W.  Volk,  Secretary. 

The  contra.ct  for  the  first  section  of  the  monument,  comprising 
the  foundations,  platform  steps  and  tomb,  of  Athens  stone,  having 


36  HISTORY   OF   THE 

been  let  last  October  to  Messrs.  John  Howison  &  Co.  for  the  sum 
of  $10,700,  and  the  work  thereon  now  progressing,  the  Treasurer 
was  authorized  to  pay  Messrs.  Howison  &  Co.  $1,000  on  account 
of  the  work,  in  addition  to  a  like  sum  paid  them  when  the  contract 
was  executed. 

The  Hon.  William  H.  Seward,  who  had  been  first  invited  to 
deliver  the  oration,  but  whose  health  and  public  duties  prevented 
his  acceptance  so  early  as  the  present  month  of  May  or  June  next, 
the  Governor  of  the  State  was  then  invited,  and  has  consented  to 
deliver  the  address. 

A  supplemental  meeting  of  the  board  was  held  at  the  same 
place  on  the  13th  instant,  and  Wednesday,  the  13th  day  of  June, 
was  fixed  upon  for  the  dedication  of  the  corner-stone  of  the  mon- 
ument. A  Special  Committee  of  four  was  selected  from  the  Board 
of  Trustees,  consisting  of  Judge  W.  B.  Scates,  D.  A.  Gage,  J.  L. 
Wilson  and  L.  W.  Volk.  Also,  a  Citizens'  Committee  of  Arrange- 
ments was  chosen,  as  follows: 

Charles  H.  Walker,  Esq.,  Geo.  L.  Dunlap,  Esq.,  James  W. 
Sheahan,  Esq.,  General  C.  A.  Dana,  Wilbur  F.  Storey,  Esq.,  Geo. 
W.  Gage,  Esq.,  Dr.  B.  McVickar,  Col.  J.  L.  Hancock,  Col.  Jas.  H. 
Bo  wen,  Hugh  Maher,  Esq.,  G.  P.  A.  Healy,  Esq.,  C.  L.  Woodman, 
Esq.,  Philip  Wadsworth,  Esq.,  Lieut.-Gov.  Win.  Bross,  Stephen 
Barrett,  Esq.,  C.  G.  Wicker,  Esq.,  Col.  A.  C.  Hesing,  H.  D.  Col- 
vin,  Esq.,  Rev.  Dr.  Dunne,  D.  D.,  J.  C.  Fargo,  Esq.,  Hon  Thomas 
Hoyne,  Clinton  Briggs,  Esq.,  W.  F.  Coolbaugh,  Esq.,  M.  C.  Stearns, 
Esq.,  Isaac  R.  Diller,  Esq. 

Another  vacancy  still  existing  in  the  Board  of  Trustees,  Mr- 
Charles  R.  Starkweather  was  duly  elected  to  fill  the  same. 

The  meeting  then  adjourned,  subject  to  the  call  of  the  special 
committee. 

The  above  committees  are  requested  to  meet  at  the  Tremont 
House,  on  Tuesday  evening,  May  22nd,  at  8  o'clock,  to  make  the 
necessary  arrangements  for  laying  the  corner-stone  of  the  Douglas 
monument. 


COMMENTS  OF  THE  CHICAGO  TIMES. 


"  HAD  Congress,  instead  of  inviting  Bancroft  to  deliver  a  eulogy 
on  Mr.  Lincoln,  invited  Fernando  Wood,  Mr.  Long,  of  Ohio,  Mr. 
Harris,  of  Maryland,  or  any  other  democrat  who  had  shown  himself 


DOUGLAS   MONUMENT.  37 

to  be  an  extreme  and  bitter  partisan,  the  action  would  have  excited 
such  intense  indignation  among  republicans  that  the  invitation 
would,  very  probably,  have  been  rescinded.  It  would  have  ap- 
peared as  a  studied  and  intentional  insult  to  the  memory  of  Mr. 
Lincoln  and  to  his  political  friends  and  the  party  of  which  he  was  a 
member  and  which  elected  him  to  the  presidency.  For  this  reason, 
either  of  the  three  last  gentlemen  named  would  have  declined  the 
invitation.  Their  sense  of  propriety,  their  deference  to  usage, 
their  conciousness  that  their  political  prejudices  unfitted  them  to 
grasp  impartiaily  the  considerations  which  influenced  the  action  of 
Mr.  Lincoln,  and  their  respect  for  the  feelings  of  political  oppo- 
nents, would  all  have  commanded  them  to  decline  appearing  on  such 
'an  occasion  to  eulogize  him  they  had  so  often  and  warmly  opposed. 

"  The  Douglas  Monument  committee  has  invited  Governor 
Oglesby  to  deliver  the  address  at  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of 
the  monument.  The  invitation  can  only  be  excused  on  the  suppo- 
sition that  the  committee  is  ignorant  of  usage  and  of  propriety. 
The  governor  has  accepted  the  invitation,  which  is  one  of  the  best 
evidences  that  could  be  given  that  he  is  unfit  to  perform  the  hon- 
orable task  required.  He  knows  that  he  is  a  leader  in  that  party 
which  pursued  Douglas  with  bitterest  hatred  from  the  time  it  came 
into  being  until  he  died,  and  that  mobbed  him  in  this  city  and 
within  sight  of  the  ground  where  his  bones  lie  and  where  the  mon- 
ument is  to  be  built.  You,  gentlemen  of  the  committee,  and  you 
Richard  ,T.  Oglesby,  will  do  well  to  reconsider  the  invitation  and 
its  acceptance.  If  you  have  no  respect  for  the  party  of  which 
Douglas  was  leader,  and  to  which  rightly  belongs  the  controlling 
voice  in  paying  him  posthumous  honors,  you  may  refrain  from  in- 
sulting his  memory  by  the  selection  of  one  of  his  bitterest  enemies 
during  his  whole  life  to  officiate  on  such  an  occasion." 

An  adjourned  meeting  of  the  committee  of  citizens  appointed 
to  make  arrangements  for  laying  the  corner-stone  of  the  Douglas 
monument,  was  held  in  parlor  No.  1,  of  the  Tremont  House,  last 
evening.  The  attendance  was  very  full,  and  Judge  Walter  B. 
Scates  presided. 

The  chairman  stated,  for  the  benefit  of  those  not  present  at  the 
last  meeting,  the  objects  for  which  the  committee  had  convened. 

The  sub-committee,  to  whom  was  referred  the  arrangements  of 
the  inauguration,  the  laying  down  of  plans  of  action,  and  the  cere- 
monies to  be  observed,  reported  through  their  chairman,  Col.  J.  H. 
Bowen,  as  follows  : 

"  Your  committee,  appointed  at  the  meeting  on  the  22nd  inst.,  to 


38  HISTOKY    OF   THE 

devise  some  plan  for  the  furtherance  of  the  object  of  the  com- 
mittee of  arrangements,  namely,  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of 
the  Douglas  Monument  with  appropriate  and  as  imposing  cere- 
monies as  may  be  possible,  would  respectfully  submit  the  follow- 
ing recommendations,  unanimously  adopted  by  your  committee: 

1st.  The  time  fixed  upon  by  the  Trustees  of  the  Monument  Asso- 
ciation is,  in  their  judgment,  too  near  at  hand  to  make  suitable 
preparations  for  the  ceremonies,  and  they  are  of  opinion  that  the 
4th  day  of  July  next  would  be  the  most  fitting  day  for  those  ser- 
vices. 

2d.  That  they  deem  it  appropriate  that  the  Masonic  fraternity 
should  lay  the  corner-stone,  according  to  their  usage  in  such  cases.  • 

3d.  That  the  civic  and  military  societies  should  be  invited  to 
participate. 

4th.  A  committee  of  five  on  invitation  should  be  selected  to  in- 
vite leading  and  distinguished  public  men  and  organized  bodies  on 
the  occasion. 

Also  a  committee  on  finance,  to  provide  for  such  contingent  ex- 
penses as  may  be  incurred,  without  encroaching  upon  the  monu- 
ment fund. 

5th.  That  the  Hon.  John  B.  Rice,  Mayor  of  Chicago,  be  appoint- 
ed President  of  the  day,  and  David  A.  Gage,  Esq.,  Marshal  of  the 
day. 

Signed  by  the  committee. 

The  report  of  the  committee  was  considered  seriatim,  and  was 
adopted,  after  which  the  committee  was  discharged. 

A  communiation  \vas  received  from  Gov.  Oglesby  stating  his 
inability  to  be  present  at  the  ceremonies,  if  held  on  the  fourth  day 
of  July,  having  made  an  engagement  elsewhere  for  that  day  which 
was  imperative. 

L.  W.  Volk,  secretary,  asked  to  be  excused  from  the  duties 
as  secretary  of  the  citizens'  committee,  and,  upon  motion,  his  resig- 
nation was  accepted,  and  H.  W.  Zimmerman  was  elected  in  his 
stead. 

The  Committee  upon  Invitations  were  selected  as  follows: 

W.  F.  Coolbaugh,  Col.  J.  H.  Bowen,  Hon.  Thos.  Hoyne,  Charles 
Walker,  and  Dr.  B.  McVickar. 

The  following  gentlemen  were .  appointed  a  Committee  on 
Finance: 

H.  D.  Colvin,  C.  G.  Wicker,  M.  C.  Steams,  Clinton  Briggs,  A. 
C.  Hesing,  I.  R.  Diller,  Philip  Wadsvvorth. 


DOUGLAS    MONUMENT.  39 

C.  L.  Woodman  moved  that  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed 
to  invite  the  Masonic  fraternity  to  perform  the  ceremony  of  laying 
the  corner-stone. 

The  motion  prevailed,  and  the  following  gentlemen  were  ap- 
pointed such  committee: 

L.  W.  Volk,  I.  B.  Diller,  arid  Col.  J.  H.  Bowon. 

The  chairman  and  secretary  were  empowered  to  fill  the  vacancy 
of  secretary  to  the  committee  in  case  the  new  appointee  was  un- 
able to  serve. 

The  chairman,  Judge  Scates,  announced  his  intention  to  be 
absent  a  few  days,  and  Charles  Walker  was  appointed  to  act  in  his 
stead  during  his  absence. 

The  Committee  on  Invitation  was  instructed  to  procure  an 
orator  for  the  occasion,  selecting  such  person  as  they,  in  their  dis- 
cretion, might  think  proper. 

The  Committee  on  Finance  was  instructed  to  meet  at  the  office 
of  Col.  I.  R.  Diller  on  Saturday  afternoon,  at  3  o'clock. 

C.  G.  Wicker  moved  that  all  organizations  and  societies  desiring 
to  join  in  the  procession  be  instructed  to  report  to  the  Chief  Mar- 
hal.  The  motion  prevailed. 

The  committee  then  adjourned  until  8  o'clock  p.  M.  on  Thursday 
next. 


LETTER  FROM  GOV.  OGLESBY. 

SPRINGFIELD,  ILL.,  May  28,  1866. 
COLONEL  JAMES  H.  BOWEN,  Chicago,  111. : 

Dear  Colonel :  Your  letter  of  the  23d  inst.,  for  some  reason, 
did  not  reach  me  until  to-day,  too  late  to  reply  for  any  purpose 
connected  with  the  special  inquiries  you  make  :  "  If  it  will  suit 
me  to  make  the  address  on  the  4th  of  July  instead  of  on  the 
13th  of  June,  the  time  fixed  by  the  Trustees  of  the  Douglas 
Monument  Association  for  laying  the  corner-stone  of  the  monu- 
ment to  the  late  Senator  Douglas.  After  having  made  a  written 
promise  to  speak  in  Marion  county  on  the  4th  of  next  July,  it  was 
not  possible  for  me  to  reply  to  Mr.  Volk  or  yourself,  on  the  23d 
inst.,  that  I  could  positively  agree  to  the  change  on  that  day  ;  but 
it  seems  my  telegraphic  reply  to  Mr.  Volk  to  do  with  it — as  the 
change  was  nevertheless  made  on  that  day  to  the  4th  of  July.  It 
is  thus  very  clear  to  my  mind  that  I  am  disposed  of.  The 
Chicago  Times  of  the  24th  made  a  very  severe  attack  upon  me 
for  accepting  the  invitation  to  deliver  the  address.  It  is  not, 


40  HISTORY    OF   THE 

perhaps,  known  that  I  was  twice  urgently  invited  to  do  so  before 
accepting,  and  I  suppose  when  the  attack  in  the  Times  appeared 
that  the  trustees  would  be  generous  enough  to  me  to  make  the 
explanation  which  obviously  seemed  necessary.  I  am  thus  left 
in  a  disagreeable  relation  to  the  whole  matter.  I  declined  as 
long  as  I  gracefully  could,  then,  after  accepting,  am  virtually  re- 
jected by  a  change  of  time,  arbitrarily  and  very  suddenly  made. 
If  the  Masons  are  to  lay  the  corner-stone,  why  prefer  the  4th  of 
July  to  the  24th  of  June — this  year  the  25th — a  Masonic  day.  The 
trustees  have  not  informed  me  whether  they  expect  me  to  de- 
liver the  address  or  not.  I  think  I  am  able  to  comprehend  why  ! 
Very  respectfully  yours, 

R.  J.  OGLESBY. 


EXPLANATORY  LETTER. 


To  THE  EDITOR  OF  THE  CHICAGO  EVENING  JOURNAL: 

I  desire,  on  behalf  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Douglas  Monu- 
ment Association,  to  state  some  facts,  as  they  appear  on  the  records, 
for  the  information  of  the  public  relating  to  the  invitation  of  Gov- 
ernor Oglesby  to  deliver  the  address  on  the  occasion  of  laying  the 
corner-stone  of  the  Douglas  Monument. 

In  the  first  place,  the  Board  thought  best  to  invite  Secretary 
Seward,  the  correspondence  with  whom  has  been  already  published 
in  the  papers.  Failing  to  secure  that  gentleman,  it  was  then  de- 
cided to  invite  the  Governor  of  the  State,  His  Excellency  Richard 
J.  Oglesby,  who,  it  was  known,  was  a  friend  of  the  object  of  the 
Association,  and  had  exerted  his  influence  in  securing  the  appro- 
priation from  the  State  for  the  purchase  of  the  grounds  upon  which 
lie  the  remains  of  Mr.  Douglas.  The  Governor  declined  to  deliver 
the  adress.  He  said:  "I  am  concious  of  inability  to  do  justice,  up- 
on such  an  occasion,  to  the  life,  the  character  and  public  services 
of  this  great  man."  He  expressed  a  purpose,  however,  to  be  present 
as  a  spectator. 

At  a  full  meeting  of  the  Board,  held  soon  after  the  receipt  of 
his  letter,  it  was  unanimously  decided  that  a  member  thereof 
should  write  to  the  Governor  urging  him  to  reconsider  his  action 
in  declining,  and  to  fix  any  day  for  the  occasion  prior  to  the  loth 
of  June.  The  letter  was  written,  and  the  Governor  replied  that 
he  did  not  feel  longer  at  liberty  to  decline,  and  stated  that  any 


DOUGLAS   MONUMENT.  41 

day  after  the  12th  of  June  would  be  agreeable  to  him  to  make  the 
address. 

The  Board,  at  its  next  meeting,  fixed  upon  the  13th  instant  for 
laying  the  stone,  and  the  Governor  was  notified  of  the  fact  by  tele- 
graph. 

At  this  meeting,  a  citizens'  committee  of  arrangements  was  ap- 
pointed, together  with  a  special  committee  of  five  members  from 
the  board  to  represent  it,  and  co-operate  with  the  citizen's  commit- 
tee in  making  all  necessary  preparations  for  the  dedication  cere- 
monies. 

The  committee  of  arrangements  thus  appointed  deemed  a  change 
of  the  day  to  the  4th  of  July  important.  As  Governor  Oglesby 
had  signified  that  any  day  after  the  12th  of  June  would  suit  his 
convenience,  it  was  thought  that  his  services  could  still  be  secured 
but,  in  this,  the  committee  have  been  disappointed,  because  of  a 
prior  engagement  of  the  Governor  to  deliver  an  address  at  Salem 
on  that  day. 

At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Committee  on  Invitations,  consisting 
of  Messrs.  William  F.  Coolbaugh,  Thomas  Hoyne,  James  H.  Bow- 
en,  Charles  "Walker,  and  Brock  McVickar,  the  following  resolution 
was  passed: 

"  Resolved,  That  this  committee,  charged  with  the  duty  of  securing  the  ser- 
vices of  some  gentleman  to  deliver  an  appropriate  address  on  the  Fourth  of 
July  next,  on  the  occasion  of  laying  the  corner-stone  of  the  monument  about 
to  be  erected  to  the  memory  of  the  late  Stephen  A.  Douglas ,  convey  to  Gover- 
nor Oglesby  their  regret  that  his  engagements  will  prevent  his  being  present 
and  performing  that  service ;  and  while  they  feel  the  necessity,  in  view  of  the 
Governor's  declination,  of  securing  some  other  gentleman,  respectfully  request, 
if  any  change  of  his  arrangements  will  allow  of  it,  his  presence  on  that  occa- 
sion." 

In  view  of  the  above  facts,  the  Committee  on  Invitations  are 
using  every  endeavor  to  secure  some  gentleman  as  orator  on  the 
proposed  occasion,  who  will  be  eminently  qualified  and  satisfactory 
to  all. 

LEONARD  W.  VOLK, 
Secretary  Douglas  Monument  Association. 


At  a  subsequent  meeting  of  the  Citizens'  Committee  of  Ar- 
rangements, Messrs.  Thos.  Hoyne  and  Jas.  H.  Bowen  were 
appointed  a  committee  to  proceed  to  "Washington  and  invite 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  his  Cabinet,  and  other 
prominent  men  to  be  present  at  the  ceremonies.  Gen.  John 


42  HISTORY   OF    THE 

A.  Dix  was  secured  by  the  committee  as  the  orator.  He  came 
to  Chicago  some  days  in  advance  of  the  Presidential  party  to 
prepare  his  address. 

The  Special  Committee  of  The  Douglas  Monument  Association 
held  a  meeting  last  evening  at  the  rooms  of  the  association,  No. 
15  Garrett  Block.  Present — General  Walter  B.  Scates,  President, 
and  all  the  members  of  the  committee. 

Mr.  David  A.  Gage,  from  the  Committee  on  Railroads,  reported 
that  he  had  seen  the  presidents  of  all  the  railroads  running  into  the 
city,  except  two,  and  that  they  had  agreed  to  carry  passengers  to 
the  city  and  back  at  the  reduced  rate  of  one  and  one-fifth  the  usual 
fare.  The  two  roads  which  were  not  yet  in  the  arrangement  were 
the  Chicago  and  Great  Eastern,  and  the  Chicago,  Pittsburgh  and 
Fort  Wayne. 

Mr.  Volk,  from  the  Committee  on  Medals,  reported  in  favor  of  a 
circular,  white  rnetal  badge  of  the  diameter  of  one  and  three- 
eighths  inches,  and  with  a  hole  near  the  margin  to  admit  of  a  rib- 
bon. On  one  side  of  the  medal  was  to  be  a  medalion  of  Douglas, 
surrounded  on  the  rim  with  the  words, 

"BORN,  APRIL  23,   1813  ;    DIED,  JUNE  3,   1861." 

On  the  reverse,  the  words, 

"DOUGLAS  MONUMENT  ASSOCIATION," 

Were  to  be  upon  the  rim,  and  in  the  centre  the  words> 

"CORNER-STONE  LAID  SEPT.   6,   1866." 

A  suitable  medalion  has  already  been  provided,  taken  from  the 
bust  of  Douglas.  The  cost  would  be  from  $10  to  $15  per  hundred, 
and  if  ordered  immediately,  five  thousand  could  be  made  ready  by 
September  1,  and  one  thousand  each  day  thereafter.  The  report 
of  the  committee  was  adopted. 

Mr.  Hilton  proposed  that,  instead  of  the  proposed  banquet,  there 
be  held  a  reception  at  the  Rink  on  the  evening  of  the  President's 
arrival. 

A  further  suggestion  was  also  made  that  a  concert  be  held  at 
the  Opera  House  on  the  evening  of  September  6.  Both  the  above 
suggestions  were  referred  to  the  general  committee,  with  favorable 
recommendations,  to  be  reported  upon  this  evening. 

Mr.  Volk  proposed  that  the  seal  of  the  association  be  put  upon 
a  badge  for  the  exclusive  use  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements. 
It  was  adopted. 

Mr.  Coolbaugh  proposed  that  a  committee  of  two   be   appointed 


DOUGLAS    MONUMENT.  43 

by  the  chairman,  who  should  appoint  a  Reception  Committee  of 
fifty,  who  shall  proceed  to  Detroit,  or  some  place  this  side,  to  re- 
ceive the  President  and  his  suite. 

The  Chairman  appointed  Chas.  Walker,  Esq.,  and  Dr.  Brock 
McVickar,  who  reported  the  following  as  the  Special  Reception 
Committee: 

Richard  J.  Oglesby,  Governor,  William  Bross,  Lieutenant  Gover- 
nor, Lyman  Trumbull,  United  States  Senator,  Richard  Yates, 
United  States  Senator,  John  Wentworth,  M.  C.,  A.  C.  Hesing,  E. 

B.  Washburn,  M.  C.,  P.  H.  Smith,  Esq.,  E.  C.  Ingersoll,  M.  C., 
I.  Y.  Munn,  H.  P.  H.  Bromwell,  M.  C.,  Charles  Randolph,  L.  W. 
Ross,  M.  C.,  Clinton  Briggs,  S.  S.  Marshall,  M.  C.,  Henry  Greene- 
baum,  A.  J.  Kuykendall,  M.  C.,  General  Osborn,  J.  F.  Farnsworth, 
M.  C.,  Judge  Thos.  Drummond,  A.  C.  Harding,  M.  C.,  J.  H.  Wood- 
worth,  B.  C.  Cook,  M.  C.,  C.  N.  Holden,  S.  M.  Cullom,  M.  C.,  E.  B. 
McCagg,   Esq.,  Anthony  Thornton,   M.  C.,   W.  H.  Brown,    Jehu 
Baker,  M.  C.,  M.  C.  Stearns,  S.  W.  Moulton,  M.  C.,  M.  D.  Ogden, 
Esq.,  Hon.  Leonard  Sweet,  E.  D.  Taylor,  Esq.,  Hon.  I.  N.  Arnold, 
D.  Kreigh,  L.  D.  Boone,  H.  D.  Colvin,  Hon.  J.  Y.  Scammon,  Hon. 
J.  B.  Rice,  J.  C.  Dore,  General  Mann,  Judge  E.  VanBuren. 

TRUSTEES  OF  THE    DOUGLAS    MONUMENT    ASSOCIATION,    AND  OF  THE 
UNIVERSITY   OF    CHICAGO. 

Prof.  J.  C.  Borroughs,  Hon.  F.  C.  Sherman,  Hon.  Julian  Rumsey, 

C.  G.  Wicker,  J.  R.  Jones,  Colonel  R.  M.  Hough. 

The  Secretary  made  a  statement  of  the  persons  and  classes,  to 
whom  invitations  have  been  extended.  He  said  the  number  of 
invitations  already  sent  out  numbered  more  than  800,  and  embraced 
the  following: 

President  of  the  United  States  and  the  Cabinet. 

Both  houses  of  Congress. 

Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 

Judges  of  the  Supreme  Courts  of  the  several  States. 

Mayors  of  all  the  cities  in  the  Northwest. 

Editors  of  the  leading  papers  of  the  United  States. 

Many  other  distinguished  statesmen  and  journalists. 

Generals  Grant  and  Sherman. 

Messrs.  Volk,  Zimmerman  and  Gage  were  appointed  a  commit- 
tee to  request  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  association  to  prepare 
suitable  records  and  mementos  to  be  placed  in  the  corner-stone. 

Mr.  Wadsworth  moved  that  suitable  arrangements  be  made  with 
the  proprietors  of  the  Sherman  House  for  the  reception  and  enter- 
tainment of  the  President  and  suite. 


44  HISTORY    OF   THE 

X 

Mr.  D.  A.  Gage  announced  that  the  hospitalities  of  the  Sher- 
man House  had  already  been  freely  tendered  to  the  party.  A 
vote  of  thanks  was  tendered  to  Mr.  Gage. 

It  was  stated  that  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  would  run  trains 
to  the  grounds  every  ten  minutes  on  the  day  of  laying  the  corner- 
stone. 

Badges  are  to  be  provided,  one,  selling  for  $2,  and  admitting 
both  to  the  reception  and  the  concert,  and  another  costing  81, 
admitting  only  to  the  latter. 

The  meeting  of  the  general  committee  of  arrangements  of  the 
Douglass  Monument  Association,  which  was  to  have  taken  place 
to-night,  has  been  postponed  until  to-morrow  evening,  same  time 
and  place,  on  account  of  the  reception  of  General  John  A.  Logan 
occurring  to-night. 


DISPATCH  FROM   SECRETARY   SEWARD. 


A  TELEGRAM  containing  the  following  has  just  been  received  by 
S.  C.  Hough,  Esq.,  general  passenger  agent  of  the  Michigan 
Southern  Railroad: 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  8. 

The  President,  with  his  Cabinet,  expect  to  reach  Chicago  on 
Wednesday,  September  5th,  at  7:45  in  the  evening,  and  remain 
there  two  nights  and  one  day. 

(Signed)  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 


THE  PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  EVENT  APPROACHING 
COMPLETION. 


THE  preparations  for  the  approaching  ceremonies  attendant  upon 
laving  the  corner-stone  of  the  Douglas  Monument,  are  rapidly  ap- 
proaching completion.  All  the  preliminary  arrangements  are  per- 
fected, and  little  now  remains  but  the  preparation  of  the  pro- 
gramme of  the  day.  It  will  be  remembered  that  at  the  last  meet- 
ing of  the  general  committee  of  arrangements,  it  was  decided  to 
abandon  the  Rink  and  request  the  use  of  the  Hall  of  the  Board  of 
Trade,  for  the  purposes  of  the  Presidential  Reception  on  the  night  of 
the  5th  proximo.  The  Board  of  Directors  have  kindly  consented  to 


DOUGLAS   MONUMENT.  45 

suspend  their  rules  on  this  occasion,  and  to  grant  the  use  of  their 
building  to  the  association.  The  hall  will  be  thrown  open  to  the 
public  on  that  occasion,  and  will  be  beautifully  decorated  in  honor 
of  the  event.  It  was  the  original  intention  of  the  President  and 
suite  to  have  reached  Chicago  by  the  Michigan  Southern  route. 
Circumstances  have,  however,  changed  that  part  of  the  programme, 
and  he  will  now  travel  by  way  of  Detroit  and  the  Michigan  Cen- 
tral road,  visiting  Niagara  Falls  on  his  journey.  Hearing  of  this 
intention,  Mr.  Swinyard,  the  superintendent  of  the  Great  Western 
railroad  of  Canada,  sent  an  invitation  to  the  President,  in  which  he 
was  joined  by  the  Governor  General,  asking  him  to  accept  a  special 
train  over  that  road.  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  correspond- 
ence. 

HAMILTON,  Aug.  17,  1866. 
"Hon.  W.  H.  SEWARP,  Secretary  of  State,  Washington,  D.  C.: 

"  It  is  reported  that  the  President,  yourself  and  party  will  be  at 
Niagara  Falls  at  the  beginning  of  September,  en  route  for  Chica- 
go. If  it  should  be  consistent  with  the  programme  of  the  Presi- 
dent and  agreeable  to  his  wishes,  the  Great  Western  Company 
will  have  the  greatest  possible  pleasure  in  placing  a  special  train 
over  its  road,  from  Niagara  Falls  to  Detroit,  at  the  service  of  him- 
self and  party.  I  was  directed  by  His  Excellency,  the  Governor,  to 
say  that  it  would  give  him  the  highest  gratification  to  hear  that  the 
President,  yourself  and  party  would  pass  through  Canada. 
•  [Signed.]  "  THOMAS  SAVINYAKD." 


"WASHINGTON,  Aug.  18,  1866. 
"THOMAS  SWINYAKD,  Esq.,  Hamilton,  C.  W.: 

"  My  Dear  Sir:  I  give  you  many  thanks  for  your  telegram  of 
yesterday,  which  informed  me  of  the  friendly  reception  which 
awaits  the  President  and  myself,  if  we  should  find  it  convenient 
to  pass  through  Canada  on  our  way  to  Chicago. 

"  I  regret  to  say  that  definite  arrangements  for  the  journey  pre- 
clude our  acceptance  of  your  kind  invitation. 

"  Faithfully  yours, 
[Signed.]  "  WM.  H.  SEWARD." 


40  HISTORY    OF    THE 

[From  the  Chicago  Tribune.] 

ARTICLES  TO  BE  DEPOSITED    UNDER  THE    CORNER- 
STONE—THE MEDAL. 


MR.  VOLK,  Secretary  of  the  Douglas  Monument  Association,  re- 
ceived yesterday  a  set  of  coins  and  medals  from  the  mint  at  Phila- 
delphia, which  will  be  deposited,  together  with  other  articles  in  the 
corner-stone  of  the  monument,  on  the  sixth  proximo.  The  coins 
embrace  the  dollar  in  gold,  all  the  silver  coins  of  the  United  States, 
and  the  five,  three,  two  and  one  cents  in  composition,  being  all  of 
the  present  year.  The  medals  are  the  small  Jackson  and  Wash- 
ington mint  medals,  the  two  Washington  medals  known  as  the 
"  Commission  resigned"  and  "  Time  increases  his  fame,"  in  silver, 
and  a  Washington  medal  struck  to  commemorate  the  taking  of  the 
oath  of  allegiance  by  the  employes  of  the  mint,  in  bronze;  also  the 
Lincoln  and  Johnson  Indian  medals  in  bronze.  They  are  mainly 
pattern  pieces,  and  are  extremely  sharp  and  beautiful.  The  med- 
als struck  by  Mr.  Childs,  of  this  city,  of  Lincoln  and  Douglas, 
from  Mr.  Volk's  busts,  during  the  campaign,  will  also  be  deposited 
in  the  stone. 

The  following  are  the  other  articles  which  will  be  deposited  in 
the  corner-stone:  Specimens  of  United  States  paper  money;  rec- 
ords of  the  Douglas  Monument  Association;  a  copper  plate  with 
the  names  of  Trustees  engraved  thereon;  pamphlet,  by-laws,  con- 
stitution and  appeal;  diploma  of  membership,  blank  circulars, 
agents'  credentials,  etc.,  of  the  association;  medallion  of  Douglas 
with  date  of  the  laying  of  the  stone;  photograph  of  the  monu- 
ment; likeness  of  Douglas  on  porcelain,  together  with  a  photo- 
graph; Sheahan's  Life  of  Douglas,  to  1858;  last  speeches  of  the 
great  statesman  before  the  Illinois  Legislature  and  in  the  Wigwam; 
his  funeral  ceremonies  in  1861;  obituary  addresses  in  the  Senate 
and  House  of  Representatives;  eulogy  before  the  University;  mis- 
cellaneous documents  relating  to  Douglas;  copy  of  Douglas'  deed 
of  land  to  the  University  of  Chicago;  copy  of  each  of  the  daily 
city  papers;  copy  of  Harpers'  Weekly,  with  the  monument  illus- 
trated; first  and  last  copies  of  the  catalogues  of  the  University; 
Douglas'  ancestral  record;  statistics  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
of  Chicago,  first  and  last  Directories  of  Chicago;  copies  of  the  cata- 
logues of  the  Art  Exhibitions  in  Chicago  in  1859,  1863  and  18G5; 


DOUGLAS   MONUMENT.  47 

charter  of  the  Chicago  Historical  Society;  and  an  autograph  let- 
ter of  the  deceased. 

We  saw,  yesterday,  a  proof  of  the  medal  struck  to  commemorate 
the  occasion,  by  order  of  the  committee.  It  is  from  Mr.  Child's 
dies.  The  obverse  side  has  a  very  accurate  bust  portrait  of  Doug- 
las from  Volk's  bust,  clear,  sharp  and  very  expressive.  Of  all  the 
medals  which  have  been  struck  in  commemoration  of  Douglas  and 
his  services,  some  ninety  in  number,  this  is  by  far  the  best.  The 
inscription  on  the  obverse  is,  "  Born  April  23,  1813,  died  June  3, 
1861,"  with  three  stars  below  the  bust.  The  reverse  bears  the  in- 
scription, "  Douglas  Monument  Association,  Corner  Stone  laid 
Sept  6,  18G6,"  with  a  single  star  in  the  exergne.  The  medal  is  in 
white  metal  and  is  very  neat. 

The  impression  has  gained  ground  in  some  quarters  that  the  Ma- 
sonic fraternity  will  not  take  part  in  the  ceremonies.  This  im- 
pression is  false.  The  Grand  Master  of  the  State  will  attend  in 
person,  and  many  of  the  different  lodges  of  the  State,  with  nearly 
all  those  of  Chicago,  have  already  signified  their  intention  to  be 
present. 

The  number  of  flags  procured  for  draping  purposes  is  very  large, 
embracing  probably  the  great  majority  of  those  owned  in  the  city. 
The  display  will  doubtless  be  a  magnificent  one. 

The  city  council  of  St.  Paul,  Minnesota,  has  appointed  Mayor 
Prince,  General  Sibley,  Hon.  J.  B.  Brisbin,  Messrs.  McCarty  and 
Howard,  and  Alderman  Beaumont,  delegates  to  attend  the  Douglas 
monument  ceremonies.  It  is  understood  that  the  treasury  of  that 
city  is  too  much  impoverished  to  admit  of  their  expenses  being 
paid  by  the  corporation. 

THE    PRESIDENTIAL    PAETY. 

The  following  distinguished  persons  constitute  the  President's 
party,  according  to  the  telegrams  received  by  the  chief  marshal. 
There  are,  however,  some  eighty  persons  accompanying,  whose 
names  are  not  furnished,  and  who  are  consequently  not  regarded 
as  coming  within  the  province  of  the  committee  of  reception  to 
specially  entertain: 

President  Johnson  and  servant;  General  U.  S.  Grant  and 
servant;  Maj.  General  Geo.  G.  Meade;  Brigadier  J.  A.  Rawlings; 
Admiral  Farragut,  lady  and  servant;  Secretary  Seward  and  ser- 
vant; Major  Seward;  Secretary  Welles,  lady  and  two  sons;  Senor 
Romero;  General  McCullum;  Surgeon-General  Barnes;  Surgeon 
Norris,  U.  S.  N.;  Rear  Admiral  Radford,  U.  S.  N.;  Lieutenant 


48  HISTORY    OF   THE 

Gurley,  U.  S.  N.;  Colonel  W.  G.Moore;  Colonel  R.  Morrow;  T. 
A.  Gobright;  W.  W.  Warden;  J.  R.  Doolittle;  R.  S.  Spafford; 
General  Steadman;  General  Rousseau;  Mr.  Palte;  Mr.  Kuntz; 
General  Custer;  H.  A.  Chadwick;  H.  Murphy;  D.  F.  Patterson 
and  lady;  Marshal  Gooding;  Marshal  D.  Perrine;  J.  McGinnis  and 
lady;  Miss  Grier;  Masters  Robert  and  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  and 
Mrs.  J.  M.  Grau  and  Mrs.  J.  N.  Granger,  only  sister  of  Judge 
Douglas. 


From  this  time  on,  till  the  arrival  of  the  distinguished  party, 
many  committee  meetings  were  held,  and  all  arrangements 
made  to  make  the  occasion  worthy  of  the  departed  senator  and 
honorable  to  the  state. 

[From  the  Chicago  Times.] 

THE  CHIEF  MARSHAL'S  ORDER  OF  ARRANGEMENTS. 

The  various  societies  and  civil  bodies  that  have  not  yet  reported 
will  report  to  Chief  Marshal  Gage  at  the  Sherman  House,  under 
whose  superintendence  the  procession  will  commence  forming  at  9 
o'clock. 

First  division  will  form  on  Lake  street,  right  resting  on  Wabash 
avenue. 

Second  division  will  form  on  Clark  street,  right  resting  on  Ran- 
dolph street. 

Third  division  will  form  with  right  resting  on  the  left  of  second 
division. 

Fourth  division  will  form  on  Dearborn  street,  right  resting  on 
Lake  street. 

Fifth  division  will  form  with  right  resting  on  the  left  of  fourth 
division. 

Sixth  division  will  form  on  Dearborn  street. 

The  following  is  the  order  of  the  procession  as  determined  upon 
by  the  chief  marshal  and  his  associates: 

ORDER  OF  PROCESSION. 

Section  of  Police  under  Capt.  Hickey. 
Chief  Marshal  David  A.  Gage,  Esq;  L.  P.  Bradley, 
Philip  Wadsworth,  J.  C.  Hilton,  Col.  John 
Mason  Loomis,  Aids. 


DOUGLAS   MONUMENT.  49 

FIRST  DIVISION. 

Band. 

Masonic  Fraternity, 
Grand  Marshal,  Gen.  A.  C.  Ducat  and  Aids. 

SECOND  DIVISION. 

Band. 

Gen.  Mann  and  Aids. 

President  of  the  United  States,  Orator  of  the  Day, 
Mayor  Rice  and  Hon.  W.  H.  Seward,  in  first 

carriage. 
The  Cabinet  and  other  distinguished  guests  in 

carriages. 

United  States  Army  Officers — Gen.  Grant,  Gen. 

Rawlins,  Gen.  Meade  and  Staff,  Gen.  Steadman, 

Gen.  Rousseau,  Gen.  Ouster,  Gen.  Jeff.  C. 

Davis,  Gen.  Orook,  Gen.  G.  H.  Thomas, 

in  carriages. 
United  States  Navy  Officers — Admiral  Farragut, 

Admiral  Radford,  Lieut.  McKinley. 
Trustees  of  the  Douglas  Monument  Association  in 

carriages. 

Members  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  T'.  &  A.  M.  of  Illi- 
nois, in  carriages. 
Citizen's  Committee  of  Arrangements  on  foot. 

Common  Council  of  Chicago. 
Mayors  and  Councils  of  Sister  Cities  on  foot. 

THIRD   DIVISION. 

Band. 

Maj.  C.  H.  Dyer. 

Twenty-  third  and  Seventy-second  Regiments  of  Illi- 
nois Volunteers. 
Division  Marshal,  David  Walsh,  Aid.  John  A. 

Moore. 

Hibernian  Benevolent  Society. 
French  Benevolent  Society. 

United  Sons  of  Erin. 

Union  National  Society  of  Italians. 

Father  Matthew  Temperance  Society. 

FOURTH  DIVISION. 

Band. 


50  HISTOET   OF   THE 

Edmund  Crossfield,  Marshal. 
Trades  Unions  of  Chicago. 

FIFTH  DIVISION. 

Band. 

Charles  Alexander  Kadish,  Marshal. 
Bohemian  Sclavonic  Society. 

Sclovaueka  Lipa. 

Sclavonian  Brotherhood  (Protestant). 

St.  Wenzealaus'  Society  (Catholic). 

Local  Turners'  Society. 

Alahoe  Singers'  Society. 

SIXTH  DIVISION. 

Band. 
Andrew  Schall,  Marshal. 

Sharpshooters. 

Union  Singing  Association. 

German  Turn  serein. 

Butchers'  Association. 

Citizens  generally. 

LINE    OF   MARCH. 

The  route  to  be  taken  has  already  been  published  in  THE  TIMES, 
but  for  purposes  of  reference  we  give  it  again.  The  right,  forming 
on  Clark  street  and  resting  upon  Lake,  will  proceed  down  the  lat- 
ter street  to  Wabash  avenue,  thence  south  on  Wabash  avenue  to 
Sixteenth  street,  thence  east  to  Michigan  avenue,  thonce  south  to 
Thirty-first  street,  thence  east  to  Cottage  Grove  avenue,  and  south 
to  the  monument  grounds. 

THE   CONCERT. 

The  concert  at  the  opera  house  this  evening  will,  it  is  expected, 
be  a  splendid  affair.  All  the  Arrangements  have  been  made  under 
the  superintendence  of  Mr.  Balatka,  which  will  be  assurance 
enough  of  the  character  of  the  entertainment.  Miss  Sterling,  a 
famous  Eastern  contralto  singer,  will  give  some  of  her  choicest 
selections.  The  few  Chicagoans  who  have  had  the  good  fortune 
to  hear  her,  pronounce  her  singing  most  perfect.  The  Germania 
Maennerchoer  will  also  sing  their  best  selections,  among  them 
"  Storck's  Prayer  Before  the  Battle  "  and  the  celebrated  "  Sailor's 
Chorus"  from  L'Africaine. 


DOUGLAS  MONUMENT.  51 

The  orchestra  will  number  45  performers,  and  among  other 
selections  will  give  the  brilliant  overture  to  Robespierre,  in  which 
the  Marseilles  hymn  is  one  of  the  principal  themes,  some  sym- 
phonical  compositions  and  Meyerbeer's  splendid  Schiller  march. 

THE    PUBLIC    OFFICES. 

The  United  States  custom  house  and  depository  will  be  closed 
at  10  o'clock  on  the  6th  inst.,  in  honor  of  the  ceremonies. 

The  Board  of  Trade  will  hold  no  session,  and  the  city  banks  will 
be  closed.  The  wholesale  houses  will  also,  it  is  understood,  be 
open  but  for  a  short  time  in  the  morning,  though  there  is  no  posi- 
tive agreement  to  that  effect. 

DISTINGUISHED  ARRIVALS. 

Maj.  Gen.  Jeff.  C.  Davis,  commander  of  the  military  department 
of  Kentucky,  arrived  in  the  city  on  Tuesday  evening  to  partici- 
pate in  the  ceremonies  of  the  day.  While  in  the  city  he  is  the 
guest  of  E.  L.  Jansen,  and  Gen.  A.  C.  McClurg,  who  was  a  mem- 
ber of  his  staff  on  the  march  through  Georgia. 

Sir  -Knight,  Capt.  Gaskin  of  Kingston,  Canada,  has  been  invited 
to  join  with  the  Chicago  Masonic  order  in  the  reception  of  the 
President,  and  has  accepted  the  invitation. 


The  following  is  a  portion  of  the  New  York  HeralcFs  ac- 
count of  the  journey  to  Chicago  and  the  ceremonies  at  the 
grave: 

THE  REAL  PURPOSE  OF  THE  TRIP. 

It  was  only  upon  our  arrival  in  Chicago  last  night  that  we  be- 
came really  apprised  of  the  nature  of  the  Presidential  trip.  We 
find  it  actually  to  be  for  the  purpose  of  attending  the  ceremonies 
of  inaugurating  a  monument  to  the  memory  of  a  deceased  states- 
man, and  that  it  is  not  entirely  a  political  excursion  for  partisan 
purposes.  The  idea  prevailed  that  some  turbulent  spirits  in  Chi- 
cago seemed  to  view  it  in  this  light,  and  no  little  asperity  of  feel- 
ing was  created  thereby. 

THE  BOARD  OF  TRADE  GUARDED. 

According  to  the  original  programme  the  reception  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States  and  other  distinguished  visitors 


52  HISTORY  OF  THE 

here  was  to  take  place  in  the  hall  of  the  Board  of  Trade.  The 
majority  of  the  members  of  this  association  participated  in  the 
ruffianly  mob  which  a  few  years  ago  mobbed  Douglas  in  the 
streets  of  Chicago,  and  when  the  Board  of  Directors  was  applied 
to  for  the  use  of  the  hall  to  receive  the  President  of  the  United 
States  and  other  distinguished  persons  visiting  the  city,  they 
passed  a  resolution  granting  the  use  of  the  hall,  but  purposely 
omitted  to  mention  the  name  of  the  President  in  the  resolu- 
tion. His  friends  felt  the  insult  keenly,  but  deemed  it  prudent  to 
say  nothing.  When  the  fact  that  the  use  of  the  hall  had  been 
granted  for  this  purpose  became  known  among  certain  persons  in 
the  board  a  regular  storm  of  indignation  was  aroused  and  resolu- 
tions were  drawn  requesting  the  directors  to  rescind  their  former 
resolutions  and  refuse  the  hall,  and  other  resolutions  declaring  that 
if  the  President  made  any  political  utterances  in  the  hall  it  would 
be  regarded  as  an  insult. 

After  canvassing  the  matter  for  some  time  they  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  such  an  insult  to  the  President  in  advance  of  his  com- 
ing would  recoil  upon  their  own  heads,  and  so  neither  set  of  reso- 
lutions were  offered.  There  was  a  general  understanding  among 
them,  however,  that  they  would  attend  the  reception  and  come 
early  enough  to  take  possession  of  the  hall,  and  then  if  the  Presi- 
dent said  anything  having  a  political  bearing,  they  would  lay  vio- 
lent hands  on  him  and  eject  him  from  the  hall  by  force.  This  de- 
termination was  well  understood  by  friends  of  the  President,  and 
while  many  of  them  were  in  favor  of  taking  him  to  the  Board  of 
Trade  hall  and  asking  him  to  make  a  political  speech,  protect  him 
in  whatever  he  might  say,  at  whatever  cost  and  to  whatever  ex- 
treme it  might  be  carried,  other  counsels  prevailed,  and  the  friends 
of  the  President  concluded  not  to  take  him  under  the  roof  of  his 
enemies.  It  was  deemed  to  be  more  becoming  to  the  dignity  and 
honor  of  the  nation  that  its  Chief  Magistrate  should  be  received  in 
the  air,  or  the  rotunda  of  a  hotel,  anywhere  other  than  beneath  the 
roof  of  the  fanatics  who  mobbed  Douglas.  It  was  not  known 
whether  the  President  would  desire  to  say  anything  relative  to  the 
politics  of  the  country  or  not,  but  if  he  did  not  desire  to  do  so  his 
friends  did  not  wish  it  said  that  the  omission  was  due  to  the  fact 
that  he  was  afraid  to  speak  upon  this  subject.  Hence  the  place  of 
reception  was  changed  from  the  Board  of  Trade  hall  to  the 
Rotunda  of  the  Sherman  House. 


DOUGLAS  MONUMENT.  DO 

THE    RADICAL    INTERRUPTIONS    AT    CHICAGO. 

The  interruptions  of  the  President  last  night,  by  vociferous 
cheers  for  Grant,  originated  at  the  radical  Tribune  office,  oppo- 
site the  Sherman  House,  and  was  re-echoed  by  the  squads  scattered 
in  various  parts  of  the  immense  crowd  until  a  commanding  voice 
cried,  "  Home."  Then  the  interruptions  ceased.  This  seemed  to 
be  the  watchword  of  the  turbulents,  who  had  doubtless  organized 
to  prevent  the  President  from  being  heard.  They  found,  however, 
that  he  had  more  friends  than  they  expected,  as  was  the  case  at 
Toledo  and  Cleveland. 

GENERAL    STEEDMAN    INSULTED    AND    REVENGED. 

Toledo  is  the'  home  of  General  Steedman.  While  he  was  say- 
ing a  few  words,  same  one  in  the  crowd  used  some  insulting  lan- 
guage, when  he  was  immediately  silenced  and  hustled  out  by  the 
General's  friends. 

THE  PRESIDENT'S  PURPOSES  IN  SPEAKING  so  MUCH. 

The  President  desires  to  make  his  policy  known  personally  to 
the  people.  He  thinks  he  can  convince  them  that  he  is  right 
and  Congress  wrong.  Many  of  his  friends,  however,  think  he  is 
only  furnishing  ammunition  to  his  enemies,  and  while  increasing 
their  bitterness,  is  also  spurring  them  to  redoubled  exertions. 

GRANT    REPORTED    DISGUSTED. 

It  is  reported  that  General  Grant  has  said:  "I  am  disgusted  with 
this  trip.  I  am  disgusted  at  hearing  a  man  make  speeches  on  the 
way  to  his  own  funeral."  It  is  reported  that  this  was  said  in  pres- 
ence of  a  clerk  in  the  employ  of  General  Grant's  brother,  in  this 
city,  and  other  responsible  parties.  There  are  no  indications,  how- 
ever, that  the  relations  between  the  President  and  General  Grant 
are  not  of  an  entirely  harmonious  character,  although  the  General 
passes  most  of  his  time  in  other  than  the  presidential  car  when 
traveling. 

HOTEL   ACCOMMODATIONS   EN   ROUTE. 

The  President's  Private  Secretary,  Colonel  Moore,  has  been  very 
busy  all  the  morning  in  dispatching  official  business,  which  has 
largely  accumulated  within  a  few  days.  At  the  Biddle  House,  in 


HISTORY  OF  THE 

Detroit,  so  poor  were  the  arrangements  for  the  accommodation  of 
the  party  that  at  breakfast  the  President  and  his  Cabinet  officers 
were  compelled  to  remain  standing  for  a  considerable  time  without 
a  place  to  rattle  a  knife  and  fork.  Half  an  hour  elapsed  before 
some  of  the  party  were  waited  upon.  It  is  said  that  the  colored 
waiters  had  struck  and  would  not  serve  the  President  because  he 
had  vetoed  the  civil  rights'  bill.  The  case  was  entirely  different 
at  the  Sherman  House,  in  this  city,  where  not  only  were  the  apart- 
ments prepared  for  the  President  and  suite  of  the  most  elegant 
and  recherche  description,  but  the  courteous  attentions  of  the  hosts 
all  that  could  be  desired.  For  the  first  time  during  the  trip  the 
President  and  the  distinguished  members  of  his  party  were  enter- 
tained in  a  manner  becoming  their  stations.  The  attention  be- 
stowed upon  the  President  at  the  International  Hotel,  at  Niagara, 
were  also  highly  creditable  to  the  management  of  the  fashionable 
summer  resort. 


THE   PROCESSION. 


GRAND  CROWDS  FROM   CITY  AND  COUNTRY — CHICAGO  PACKED  WITH 

STRANGERS — THE    PARADE   AND    MARCH    TO    THE    GROUNDS SITE 

OF  THE  MONUMENT  AND  SCENE  OF  THE  CEREMONIES. 

As  day  dawned  over  the  great  metropolis,  the  time  of  prepa- 
ration commenced,  and  long  before  the  rising  sun  had  chased  the 
mists  off  the  lake  and  gilded  the  steeples  of  the  city,  the  streets 
were  alive  with  the  commotion  of  thousands  of  people.  The  vari- 
ous societies  and  organizations  that  were  to  participate  in  the  cere- 
monies of  the  day  were  moving  to  their  respective  positions,  with 
banners  flying  and  bands  of  music  preceding  them.  By  eight 
o'clock  every  street  visible  from  either  balcony  of  the  Sherman 
House  presented  a  hurrying  throng,  which  was  continually  increased 
by  the  arrival  of  regular  and  special  trains  bearing  into  the  city 
countless  thousands  from  the  interior  of  all  contiguous  States.  The 
different  steamboat  lines  leading  to  the  city  were  loaded  to  their 
utmost,  and  in  most  instances  had  been  chartered  for  weeks  be- 
forehand to  transport  military  companies  and  organizations  that 
had  been  invited  to  attend.  Private  parties  were  made  up  weeks 
beforehand  from  all  quarters  of  the  country  and  had  chartered  cars, 
trains  and  steamboats  for  the  great  occasion.  These  generally 


DOUGLAS  MONUMENT.  55 

brought  with  them  their  own  music  and  some  badge,  or  carried 
some  banner  to  denote  from  whence  they  came  and  their  com- 
mon bond  of  union. 

The  number  of  visitors  from  abroad  was  variously  estimated  at 
from  fifty  thousand  to  one  hundred  thousand,  with  the  probabilities  { 
decidedly  in  favor  of  the  larger  number.  The  mass  of  people  in 
the  city  at  ten  o'clock  was  too  great  and  extended  to  admit  of 
much  beyond  conjecture,  and  by  its  mobility  baffled  all  attempts 
at  computation.  The  heavens  were  overcast  and  threatening,  be-  4 
fore  the  hour  for  moving  the  procession,  and  many  were  doubtless 
deterred  by  fear  of  rain  and  storm  from  joining  its  ranks.  To 
others  the  change  was  agreeable,  by  promising  a  relief  from 
the  dreaded  heat,  and  dust  usually  incident  to  such  occasions.  At 
an  early  hour  in  the  morning  ropes  were  stretched  across  Clark 
street,  at  its  intersection  with  Randolph  and  Lake  streets;  a  strong 
detail  of  police  were  on  the  ground,  to  prevent  the  multitude  from 
passing  the  barricade,  and  the  open  space  thus  secured  was  kept 
comparatively  clear  from  the  intrusion  of  any,  but  those  entitled  to 
a  place  within.  Notwithstanding  these  precautions,  several  hun- 
dred managed  to  elude  the  police  in  some  way  and  kept  increas- 
ing the  crowd  within  until  it  was  almost  as  densely  packed  as  with- 
out. A  company  of  zouaves  did  excellent  service  afterwards  in 
clearing  the  square  and  keeping  it  open,  and  also  attracted  much 
attention  by  their  splendid  uniform  and  perfect  evolutions. 

APPEARANCE  OF  THE  PRESIDENT. 

Soon  after  ten  o'clock  the  President  was  announced  in  readiness, 
and  was  handed  into  his  carriage  by  the  Grand  Marshal  of  the  day. 
As  he  emerged  from  the  private  enterance  of  the  hotel,  on  Clark 
street,  a  shout  of  welcome  and  applause  went  up  from  the  thou- 
sands assembled  on  the  street  and  housetops  that  woke  the  echoes 
of  lake  and  prairie. 

EXCITING    SCENES. 

The  scene  at  this  moment  was  one  of  the  most  exciting  ever 
witnessed.  The  music  of  bands,  the  cheering  of  the  people,  the 
waving  of  flags  and  handkerchiefs  from  windows,  balconies  and 
curbstones,  made  a  grand  tableau  worthy  of  perpetuation.  As 
the  President's  carriage  passed  on,  and  General  Grant  and  his 
chief  of  staff,  General  Rawlins,  mounted  the  steps  of  the  second 
one,  the  applause  swelled  into  a  torrent  that  would  have  drowned 


56  HISTORY  OF  THE 

the  roar  of  Niagara  itself.  Next  followed  Admiral  Farragut,  at 
whose  presence  the  inexhaustible  enthusiasm  of  the  populace  re- 
burst  into  such  rounds  of  applause  as  can  only  proceed  from  the 
throats  of  the  stalwart  sons  of  the  West.  As  each  member  of  the 
party  known  to  the  people  by  reputation  passed  through  the  line, 
the  same  uproar  ensued,  until  the  cortege  had  passed  on  and  was 
followed  by  the  various  societies. 

THE  LINE  OF    MARCH 

was  crowded  from  curb-stone  to  roof,  and  many  of  the  private 
houses  and  all  of  the  public  buildings  were  decorated  with  flags 
and  devices  in  honor  of  the  occasion. 

THE  PROCESSION 

was  imposing,  and  included  the  Masonic  Fraternity,  together  with 
a  force  of  police  and  the  chief  marshals  and  aids  preceding  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  and  General  Dix,  the  orator  of  the 
day.  Then  came  Mayor  Rice  and  Hon.  William  H.  Seward,  the 
Cabinet  and  other  distinguished  guests;  United  States  Army  of- 
ficers, General  Grant,  General  Rawlins,  General  Meade  and  Staff, 
General  Steedman,  General  Rousseau,  General  Ouster,  and  other 
prominent  officers;  United  States  Navy  officers — Admiral  Farra- 
gut, Admiral  Radford,  Lieutenant  McKinley;  Trustees  of  the 
Douglas  Monument  Association,  members  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
A.  F.  and  A.  M.  of  Illinois,  in  carriages;  citizens,  committee  of 
arrangements,  on  foot;  the  Common  Council  of  Chicago,  Mayors 
and  Councils  of  sister  cities  on  foot;  Twenty-third  and  Sixty  sec- 
ond regiments  Illinois  volunteers;  Hibernian  Benevolent  Society, 
French  Benevolent  Society,  United  Sons  of  Erin,  Union  National 
Society,  of  Illinois;  Father  Matthew  Temperance  Society,  Edmund 
Grossfield,  marshal;  Trades'  Unions  of  Chicago,  Charles  Alexan- 
der Kadish,  marshal;  Bohemian  Sclavonic  Society,  Scalvonska  Lipa 
Brotherhood,  Protestant  St.  Wenseeslaus  Society,  Catholic  Local 
Turners'  Society,  Alahoe  Singers  Society,  Andrew  Schall,  marshal; 
Sharpshooters'  Union,  Singing  Society,  German  Turnverein,  Butch- 
ers' Association,  citizens  generally. 

AN    OFFENSIVE    DEMONSTRATION. 

But  one  offensive  demonstration  was  attempted,  and  that  sig- 
nally failed  from  its  puerility.  A  Mrs.  Sticknor,  supposed  to  be  a 
widow,  residing  at  No.  42  Harrison  street,  had  a  large  placard  on 


DOUGLAS  MONUMENT.  57 

the  front  of  her  house,  "  No  Welcome  to  Traitors,"  and  displayed 
a  string  of  black  petticoats  across  the  front  of  the  house  below  it. 
As  Secretary  Seward  noticed  the  inscription  he  placed  his  hand 
grimly  on  the  scars  received  by  the  assassins'  knife,  and  looked  in- 
quisitively at  his  comrades  in  the  carriage;  General  Grant  and 
Admiral  Farragut  looked  about  them  as  though  the  mysterious 
handwriting  on  the  wall  was  meant  as  a  kindly  warning  that  a 
Confederate  army  with  banners  was  just  around  the  corner  ready 
to  pounce  upon  and  annihilate  them.  Others  smiled  complacently 
at  the  weakness  of  the  procedure.  The  more  charitable  con- 
cluded the  woman's  husband  had  probably  been  hung  as  a  rebel 
traitor  by  some  of  the  patriotic  generals  in  the  procession,  and 
that  his  weak-minded  wife  had  thus  indirectly  paraded  her  private 
grief  and  unmentionable  garments. 

THE   GROUNDS. 

The  procession  reached  Fairview,  on  the  Douglas  place,  at 
twelve  o'clock.  This  is  the  piece  of  ground  which  Mr.  Douglas,  in 
his  life-time,  purchased  for  the  home  of  himself  and  family,  in  the 
anticipated  years  of  life  and  honorable  fame  that  lay  before  him. 
That  same  ground  is  now  the  place  of  his  abode  in  death,  and 
there  the  ceremonies  of  the  day  were  performed  to  his  memory 
under  circumstances  of  peculiar  solemnity 


THE   CEREMONIES. 


DESCRIPTION    OF  THE  MONUMENT  AND   GROUNDS IMPOSING    CERE- 
MONIES    OF     LOWERING     THE      STONE NATURE     ASSISTS    AT     THE 

CEREMONY — DECORATIONS  OF  THE  GROUNDS. 

ARRIVED  on  the  ground  the  procession  formed  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  base  of  the  monument.  The  grave  was  beautifully  decorated. 
Four  columns  thirty-five  feet  in  height  stood  at  each  corner  of  the 
grave,  with  arches  rising  thirty-four  feet  in  the  center,  spanning 
from  one  to  the  other.  These  were  festooned  with  draperies  and 
flags  of  black  cloth  fringed  with  silver;  while  the  columns  were 
wound  round  with  ornamental  draperies  interspersed  with  roses 
and  evergreens. 

On  the  top  of  each  column  and  over  the   center  of  the  arches 


58  HISTORY   OF   THE 

were  urns  and  vases  of  flowers,  etc.  The  fence  around  the  grave 
was  completely  enshrouded  with  flags,  so  as  to  conceal  it  from 
view.  The  ground  inside  was  strewn  with  wild  flowers,  and  a 
marble  bust  of  Douglas,  with  a  model  of  the  monument,  were 
placed  on  pedestals  near  the  head  of  the  grave.  The  stands 
completely  surrounded  the  tomb,  and  in  the  interval  beyond 
these,  far  off  to  the  boundaries  of  the  Douglas  estate,  the 
audience  was  massed  in  solid  ranks.  The  entire  spectacle  pre- 
sented an  amphitheatre,  of  which  the  inclined  seats  formed  the 
sides  and  the  open  lake  the  background. 

SITE   OF   THE   MONUMENT. 

The  spot  which  is  henceforth  to  be  sacred  as  the  last  resting- 
place  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  is  situated  four  miles  south  of  the 
City  Hall  of  Chicago,  and  in  plain  view  from  that  building.  The 
grounds  were  recently  purchased  from  the  late  widow  of  Mr. 
Douglas,  by  the  State  of  Illinois,  at  a  cost  of  $25,000.  The  monu- 
ment is  surrounded  by  a  beautiful  grove  of  oaks,  trees  which  in 
their  nature  better  than  any  others  typify  the  sturdy  character  of 
him  whose  grave  they  shadow.  The  grove  is  washed  at  its  east- 
ern edge  by  the  waters  of  the  lake,  which,  as  they  ripple  on  the 
beach,  will  murmur  an  eternal  requiem  for  the  dead. 

THE  MONUMENT. 

The  design  of  the  monumental  tomb  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas 
contemplates  a  structure  worthy  the  character  of  the  statesman, 
and  creditable  to  American  art.  In  describing  its  character  and 
what  its  appearance  will  be  when  completed,  we  will  begin  at*  the 
foundation  and  trace  its  proportions  as  they  have  already  been,  or 
soon  will  be,  erected  by  the  builders.  On  a  deep  and  firm  foun- 
dation, prepared  with  the  utmost  care,  there  has  been  placed  a  cir- 
cular platform  or  base,  fifty  feet  and  six  inches  in  diameter,  and 
four  and  a  half  feet  in  height,  the  outer  circle  of  which  consists  of 
four  steps.  Upon  this  has  been  placed  another  platform  of  less 
diameter,  but  of  the  same  height,  with  concave  sides,  and  ascended 
by  flights  of  three  steps.  It  is  on  this  broad  platform,  nine  feet 
from  the  surrounding  level  of  the  land,  that  the  sephulchre  con- 
taining the  sarcophagus  is  to  rest.  The  sephulchre,  when  com- 
pleted, will  be  nineteen  feet  square  and  eleven  feet  high,  hav- 
ing its  walls  four  and  a  half  feet  thick.  Projecting  from  the 


DOUGLAS   MONUMENT.  59 

four  corners   are  four  pedestals  connected  by  massive  archways. 

The  chamber  within  will  be  ten  feet  square,  and  have  an  arched 
ceiling.  The  floor,  which  is  level  with  the  top  of  the  platform,  will 
be  laid  in  mosaic  or  tile  work.  In  the  center  of  this  chamber,  visi- 
ble to  all,  yet  protected  from  vandalism  by  grated  bronze  doors,  will 
stand  the  white  marble  sarcophagus  in  which  is  to  repose  the  dust  of 
the  good  knight  who,  living,  did  valiant  battle  in  behalf  of  the  peo- 
ple he  loved.  Close-fitting  doors  are  designed  to  protect  the  spot 
from  the  inclemencies  of  the  winter  season.  On  the  four  pedestals 
already  alluded  to,  projecting  from  the  corners  of  the  sepulchre,  are 
to  be  symbolical  statues  in  a  sitting  posture  and  of  life-size.  These 
are  to  be  cut  from  light-colored  marble  or  cast  in  bronze,  and  will 
symbolize  the  following  ideas: — Illinois,  holding  in  her  hand  a 
medallion  of  her  son,  illustrious,  though  dead,  while  by  her  side 
rests  a  sheaf  of  wheat,  emblematic  of  her  agricultural  wealth,  and 
the  State  arms,  emblematic  of  her  sovereignty;  America,  with  a 
shield;  History,  with  her  recording  tablet,  and  Fame,  with  her  trum- 
pet and  wreath.  Above  the  tomb,  and  supported  by  its  walls,  is  tho 
pedestal  of  the  column.  The  four  sides  of  the  pedestal  will  bo 
adorned  with  bas-reliefs  symbolizing  the  advance  of  civilization  in 
the  West.  First,  a  representation  of  the  wilderness,  with  a  wigwam 
and  Indians  hunting;  next,  the  pioneer's  cabin  and  men  felling 
trees  and  plowing  the  soil;  then  a  ship,  representing  commerce, 
and  a  locomotive  and  telegraph  representing  science,  with  a  figure 
standing  by  piled-up  bales  and  boxes  and  holding  the  caduceus, 
emblem  of  peace  and  prosperity;  last,  a  schoolmaster  with  a  group 
of  children,  symbolizing  education,  with  a  church  and  the  capital 
buildings  in  the  distance.  The  pedestal  will  also  be  ornameuted 
with  books,  scrolls,  flambeau  wreaths  and  festoons  of  flowers.  From 
this  pedestal  will  rise  the  tall  and  graceful  column,  forty  feet  long, 
five  feet  and  a  half  in  diameter  at  the  base,  and  three  and  a  half 
feet  in  diameter  at  the  top.  The  column  is  in  six  sections,  and 
between  the  sections  stars  in  bas-relief  will  indicate  the  States  of 
the  Union.  A  cap  and  sphere — together  six  feet  high — will  form 
the  capital  of  the  column,  and  also  serve  as  the  base  for  the  colossal 
bronze  statue  of  Douglas,  twelve  feet  high,  which  crowns  the 
whole,  at  an  elevation  of  one  hundred  feet  from  the  ground.  The 
patriot  statesman  is  to  be  represented  in  an  erect  posture,  his  right 
hand  resting  on  the  fasces,  in  illustration  of  his  firm  reliance  in  the 
Union  of  the  States,  and  holding  in  his  left  hand  a  scroll  copy  of 
the  Constitution,  which  was  the  guide  of  his  public  life. 

The  foundation,  the  base  platforms,  and  about  half  the  work  on 


GO  HISTORY   OF   THE 

the  sepulchre  are  completed,  and  it  is  expected  that  the  remains 
•of  Douglas  will  be  deposited  in  the  sarcophagus  of  the  monument 
sometime  in  October.  The  estimated  cost  of  the  entire  structure 
is  680,000. 

The  material  used  for  the  base  and  sepulchre  is  what  is  known 
In  Chicago  as  Athens  marble,  a  fine  light-buff  colored  limestone, 
quarried  at  Athens,  in  the  vicinity. 

THE  APPROPRIATENESS  OF  THE  DESIGN 

of  this  monumental  tomb  to  the  topography  of  the  surrounding 
country  is  worthy  of  remark.  The  exquisite  adaptation  of  art  to 
nature  is  one  of  the  charms  of  what  we  admire  in  the  ancients,  and 
an  essential  feature  of  every  work  which  we  can,  with  any  justice, 
term  classical.  On  low,  level  lands  like  our  Western  prairies, 
those  who  have  earned  the  right  to  be  deemed  masters  of  all  who 
come  after  them,  were  accustomed  to  erect  lofty  structures,  that 
could  not  be  easily  obscured,  but  would  tower  aloft  as  landmarks, 
attracting  from  afar  the  traveler's  attention  to  famous  and  conse- 
crated localities.  The  Egyptian  pyramid  and  obelisk  are  examples 
of  this.  In  Greece,  on  the  other  hand,  where  it  was  possible  to 
fix  upon  a  situation  in  itself  commanding,  the  architect's  labor  was 
not  to  attain  a  lofty  height  of  structure,  but  a  solid  and  enduring 
building  to  mark  the  spot.  Hence  the  prevalence  of  low  but 
broad  and  spacious  temples — built  in  the  most  substantial  man- 
ner. The  architect  of  the  Douglas  Monument  has  therefore  fol- 
lowed in  his  design  the  best  examples  of  art  in  this  particular.  It 
is  but  just  that  this  sketch  of  the  Douglas  Monument  should  be  ac- 
companied with  a  sketch  of 

LEONARD  W.  VOLK,  THE  ARTIST. 

Mr.  Volk  was  born  in  Wellstown,  Hamilton  county,  N.  Y.,  No- 
vember 7,  1828,  and  is  descended  from  some  of  the  earliest  set- 
tlers of  that  State.  His  father  was  by  trade  a  marble  cutter,  and 
several  brothers  have  followed  the  same  calling  with  success. 
His  father  finished  one  oft  he  ten  marble  Corinthian  capitals  support- 
ing the  dome  of  the  New  York  City  Hall.  Until  twenty-one  years 
old,  Mr.  Volk  passed  most  of  his  time  among  the  marble  quarries 
and  works  in  Western  Massachusetts  and  New  York.  In  1849  or 
1850,  he  first  attempted  modelling  at  St.  Louis  and  copied,  in  mar- 
ble, a  bust  of  Henry  Clay,  supposed  to  be  the  first  work  of  the 
kind  executed  west  of  the  Mississippi.  But  this  branch  of  his  art 


DOUGLAS   MONUMENT.  61 

did  not  meet  with  much  encouragement  in  that  new  country,  so 
that  his  trade  was  his  chief  reliance  for  support.  He  married  a 
cousin  of  Judge  Douglas,  and  on  an  occasion  of  a  cousinly  visit  by 
the  Judge,  when  he  (Mr.  Volk)  was  living  at  Galena,  Illinois,  in 
1852,  he  was  strongly  urged  by  Mr.  Douglas  to  remove  to  Chi- 
cago. This  advice  he  did  not  heed,  but  returned  to  St.  Louis, 
afterward  moving  to  Rock  Island,  Illinois,  where  he  engaged  in  the 
marble  bxisiness  in  company  with  a  brother.  Again,  in  1855,  he 
was  visited  by  his  distinguished  cousin,  who,  after  the  first  greet- 
ing, said  to  him: — "I  have  come  to  repeat  an  offer  which  I  re- 
quested your  brother  to  make  for  me  a  year  since.  That  if  you 
desire  to  go  to  Italy,  and  study  the  art  of  sculpture,  I  shall  be 
happy  to  furnish  you  with  the  necessary  means  to  do  so.  I  don't 
ask  you  to  take  it  as  a  gift,  but  as  a  loan,  to  be  paid  when  you  are 
able;  but  never  give  yourself  any  concern  about  it." 

This  kindness  occasioned  the  utmost  joy  to  the  struggling 
artist,  and  in  the  autumn  of  that  same  year  he  arrived  in  Rome. 
After  two  years  of  earnest  study  in  that  city  and  in  Florence  he 
returned  to  his  native  land,  and-  settled  in  Chicago.  His  first 
work  was  the  modeling  of  a  bust  of  his  patron,  for  which  Doug- 
las gave  him  many  sittings,  and  in  1858 — during  the  celebrated 
canvass  between  Douglas  and  Lincoln — he  modeled  a  full-length 
statue  of  the  former.  In  1860  he  modeled  a  bust  of  Lincoln. 
All  of  those  works  he  has  since  chiselled  in  marble.  The  Doug- 
las monument  has  been  a  labor  of  love  and  gratitude.  Mr.  Volk, 
while  superintending  its  erection,  resides  in  the  old  Douglas  cot- 
tage, situated  hard  by. 

THE   DECORATIONS. 

At  each  corner  of  the  grave  was  erected  a  pillar  about 
thirty  feet  in  height.  From  these  uprights  spring  four  arches, 
draped  with  black  and  white,  and  festooned  with  roses.  Round 
the  base  of  the  pillars  were  arranged  a  number  of  flags,  and  all 
the  way  up  they  were  drapped  with  black  and  white,  and  with 
wreaths  of  rosea  and  flags.  The  grave  was  covered  with  natural 
flowers.  In  front  of  the  grave  was  placed  upon  a  pedestal  Volk's 
splendid  marble  bust  of  Douglas,  and  a  model  of  the  monument. 
No  other  decorations  of  any  kind  were  on  the  ground. 

The  documents  to  be  deposited  under  the  corner-stone  for  pres- 
ervation are:  Records  of  the  Douglas  Monument  Association;  cer- 
tified charter  of  the  Douglas  Monument  Association;  a  copper 


62  HISTORY   OF   THE 

plate  with  the  names  of  trustees  engraved  thereon;  pamphlet,  by- 
laws, constitution  and  appeal;  diploma  of  membership,  blank  cir- 
culars, agents'  credentials,  etc.,  of  the  association;  medallions  of 
Douglas,  with  the  date  of  the  laying  of  the  stone;  photograph  of 
the  monument;  likeness  of  Douglas  on  porcelain,  together  with  a 
photograph;  Sheahan's  Life  of  Douglas  to  1858;  last  speeches  of 
the  great  statesman  before  the  Illinois  Legislature  and  in  the  Wig- 
wam; his  funeral  ceremonies  in  1861;  obituary  addresses  in  the 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives;  eulogy  before  the  Univer- 
sity; miscellaneous  documents  relating  to  Douglas;  United  States 
medals  and  coins — gold,  silver,  and  copper;  specimens  of  paper 
money;  copy  of  Douglas'  deed  of  land  to  the  University  of  Chica- 
go; copy  of  each  of  the  daily  city  papers;  copy  of  Harper's 
Weekly,  with  the  monument  illustrated;  first  and  last  copies  of  the 
catalogue  of  the  University;  Douglas'  ancestral  record;  statistics 
of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Chicago;  first  and  last  directories 
of  Chicago;  copies  of  the  catalogues  of  the  art  exhibitions  in  Chi- 
cago in  1859,  1863  and  1866;  charter  of  the  Chicago  Historical  So- 
ciety, and  an  autograph  letter  of  the  deceased. 

THE  ENTRY  OF  THE  PROCESSION 

was  the  first  impressive  point  in  the  proceedings.  A  band  of 
music  preceded  the  cortege,  a  battalion  of  Knights  Templar  suc- 
ceeded, and  the  representatives  of  the  Masonic  fraternity  followed. 
The  latter  ascended  the  stand  and  rested  immediately  around  the 
base  of  the  monument,  where  they  prepared  to  perform  the  ancient 
rites. 

THE  CROWD  rNRTJLY. 

At  this  point,  just  before  the  appearance  of  the  President,  the 
vast  crowd  broke  the  ropes  placed  around  the  reserved  grounds 
and  rushed  to  nearly  all  parts  of  the  field.  Order  was  fully  restored 
by  the  exertions  of  the  Templars  and  Ellsworth  Zouaves. 

THE  PRESIDENT  AND  PARTY, 

with  heads  uncovered,  now  entered  the  grounds.  The  order  of 
their  progress  on  foot  was  particularly  noticeable.  Seward  had 
the  President's  arm,  Welles  and  Randall  walked  together,  Grant 
accompanied  Romero. 


DOUGLAS   MONUMENT.  63 

HUZZAS  FOR  THE  PRESIDENT. 

At  the  approach  of  the  procession  the  audience,  as  if  actuated 
by  one  simultaneous  impulse,  rose  to  their  feet.  From  the  house- 
tops, where  the  cars  stopped  on  the  shores  of  the  lake,  from  the 
people  in  windows,  in  vehicles  and  even  in  the  trees,  one  long  and 
hearty  huzza  ascended.  The  demonstration  betokened  consider- 
able feeling,  being  at  once  an  indication  of  enthusiasm  at  the 
presence  of  the  distinguished  guests  and  an  appreciation  of  the 
solemnity  of  the  occasion. 

A  GRAND  ASSEMBLAGE. 

On  the  lofty  platform,  elevated  above  the  rest  of  the  assemblage, 
was  seated  the  most  important  concourse  that  perhaps  ever  col- 
lected under  similar  circumstances.  Most  of  the  great  officials  in 
every  department  of  the  government  surrounded  the  President. 
The  youthful  sons  of  Mr.  Douglas  were  present  and  touchingly 
reminded  every  one  of  the  sad  object  that  had  assembled  the 
pilgrims. 

CEREMONIES  OF  LAYING  THE  STONE. 

The  first  in  the  course  of  the  proceedings  was  a  brief  but  appro- 
priate address  by  Mayor  Rice.  The  Masonic  Grand  Master  of  Illi- 
nois, J.  R.  Gavin,  appeared  in  front  of  the  stand  and  delivered  a 
short,  touching  and  eloquent  address,  in  which  he  paid  a  glowing 
tribute  to  the  memory  of  the  illustrious  deceased,  both  as  a  friend 
and  as  a  Mason,  and  referred  to  the  fact  that  a  statue  will  be 
placed  on  the  monument,  visible  to  the  voyager  of  this  inland 
sea  as  long  as  starlight  and  sunbeams  love  to  dance  on  its  crested 
billows.  The  Grand  Chaplain  then  invoked  the  Divine  blessing 
upon  the  ceremony,  when  the  ceremony  of  laying  the  corner  stone 
took  place  according  to  the  Masonic  ritual.  After  blessing  with 
corn,  wine  and  oil  the  stone  was  lowered  in  its  place,  while  minute 
guns  were  being  fired,  and  the  band  played  a  dirge  which  seemed 
to  solemnize  all  hearts. 

NATURE  ASSISTING  IN  THE  CEREMONY. 

Nature  herself  gave  a  character  to,  and  as  it  were  assisted  at  the 
scene.  This  was  at  the  moment  when  the  feelings  of  the  assem- 
bled multitude  were  most  intent  upon  the  rites  of  which  they  were 


64  HISLORY    OF   THE 

the  spectators.  The  worshipful  Grand  Master  of  Knights  Templar 
had  poured  corn  and  wine  and  oil  upon  the  corner-stone;  the  archi- 
tect had  delivered  to  the  Grand  Master  the  implements  of  the  craft 
of  Masonary;  the  stone  had  been  examined  to  see  if  the  workmen 
had  done  their  duty^and  it  had  been  pronounced  true  and  square, 
and  was  being  lowered  into  its  place;  the  revenue  cutter  Andrew 
Johnson,  lying  close  in  shore;  fired  her  first  minute  gun;  the  band 
of  the  Knights  Templars  in  slow  and  solemn  cadences,  played 
Pleyel's  march;  the  immense  crowd  stood  uncovered,  looking  up- 
ward to  the  platform,  all  eyes  moist  and  all  hearts  touched  by  the 
scene  before  them,  when  the  heavens  which  had  been  for  a  time 
darkening,  and  sombre  clouds  had  gathered  over  the  grave  of 
Douglas,  dropped  gentle  tears  of  rain  upon  the  sod  underneath 
which  lay  Illinois'  favorite  son  and  statesman.  Few  were  on  the 
ground  that  lacked  heart  and  sympathy,  to  contrast  the  smiling 
morn,  when  hurrying  crowds  and  marshaling  hosts  and  gay  ban- 
ners and  pennants,  and  soul  stirring  music  pervaded  the  streets  of 
Chicago,  and  the  cheers  that  greeted  the  long  procession  went  up 
from  ten  thousand  throats,  with  the  solemn  change  that  came  over 
the  face  of  the  heavens  and  over  the  minds  of  the  spectators  at  the 
moment  when  to  the  dull  boom  of  minute  guns  and  the  solemn 
music  of  the  band,  large  drops  of  rain  fell  upon  their  upturned 
faces.  When  the  ceremony  of  the  day  was  consummated  and  the 
corner  stone  of  the  Douglas  monument  was  lowered  into  'its  place, 
the  air  again  cleared,  the  clouds  broke  and  the  broad  waters  of 
Lake  Michigan  once  more  danced  in  the  sunlight  as  the  Grand 
Worshipful  Master  descended  from  his  position,  having  declared 
that  the  corner-stone  of  the  monument  to  the  deceased  brother 
had  been  laid  with  all  the  ceremonies  pertaining  to  the  Order  of 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons. 


GENERAL  DIX'S  ORATION. 


A  FRAYER  was  then  delivered  by  Rev.  Wm.  H.  Milburn,  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  church,  when  the  orator  of  the  day,  Major- 
General  Dix,  addressed  the  assemblage  as  follows: 

FELLOW  CITIZENS — The  scene  in  which  we  are  actors  to-day, 
with  all  its  surrounding  circumstances  and  accompanying  recollec- 
tions, has  no  parallel  in  this  or  any  other  age.  We  are  assembled 


DOUGLAS   MONUMENT.  bO 

within  the  confines  of  a  city  numbering  over  200,000  inhabitants, 
distant  1,000  miles  from  the  ocean,  where  thirty-four  years  ago  noth- 
ing was  seen  but  an  unbroken  expanse  of  prairie  on  the  one  side, 
and  the  outspread  waters  of  Lake  Michigan  on  the  other-— both  ex- 
tending far  beyond  the  compass  of  the  sight;  nothing  heard  but 
the  voice  of  the  great  inland  sea  from  the  sands  on  which  its  waves 
were  breaking,  or  the  more  unwelcome  voices  of  the  savage  tribes 
who  roamed  over  these  majestic  plains,  where,  within  half  the  span 
of  an  ordinary  life  there  was  one  vast  solitude, — all  is  full  of  ac- 
tivity and  progress  and  the  treasures  of  a  polished  civilization. 
Industry  and  the  arts  display  their  stores  with  a  bounteousness 
which  might  well  be  mistaken  for  the  accumulated  surpluses  of 
centuries;  science  is  teaching  the  truths  which  have  been  devel- 
oped by  the  researches  of  the  past,  and  enlarging  the  boundaries 
of  human  knowledge  by  new  discoveries;  education  is  universally 
diffused;  and,  above  all,  the  temples  which  religion  has  reared  to 
the  service  of  God,  from  every  precinct  and  almost  every  street  of 
the  city  point  their  spires  to  heaven,  as  it  were  in  acknowledgment 
of  the  merciful  protection  under  which  it  has  triumphed  over  all 
the  obstacles  to  its  growth,  and  become  strong  and  self-reliant  and 
prosperous.  Fellow  citizens,  in  no  other  country  of  the  present,  in 
no  age  of  the  past,  could  such  a  miracle  of  civilization  have  been 
wrought.  And  now  this  great  city  and  the  great  West,  of  which 
it  is  by  comparison  but  an  inconsiderable  part,  have  poured  out  the 
tens  of  thousands  who  stand  around  me  in  a  mass  so  extended  that 
no  human  voice  could  reach  your  outer  ranks.  You  have  come 
here  to  render  the  homage  of  your  respect  to  the  memory  of  one 
who  rose  among  you  to  the  highest  eminence  for  talent  and  for 
successful  labor  in  your  service.  And  the  chief  magistrate  of  the 
Union,  who  in  the  council  chambers  of  the  nation  stood  side  by 
side  with  him  in  the  darkest  hour  of  its  peril,  and  espoused  with 
equal  zeal  and  eloquence  the  cause  of  their  common  country  when 
other  men,  with  hearts  less  stout  and  faith  less  constant,  quailed 
before  the  impending  storm,  has  come  to  join  with  you  in  this  act 
of  posthumous  honor  to  an  honest,  courageous  and  patriotic  states- 
man, cut  off  in  the  fullness  of  his  strength,  his  usefulness  and  his 
fame.  Where  or  when  has  such  a  concurrence  of  circumstances 
existed  to  inspire  one  with  great  thoughts,  and  yet  to  make  him, 
by  their  very  greatness,  despair  of  giving  them  appropriate  utter- 
ance? No  one  need  look  out  of  his  own  breast  for  the  impulse 
which  has  gathered  so  vast  a  multitude  together — a  multitude 
which  no  other  sun  shall  ever  see  re-assembled.  It  is  one  of  the 
5 


DO  HISTORY   OF    THE 

strongest  feelings  of  our  natiire  to  desire  to  perpetuate  the  mem- 
ory of  those  who,  from  ties  of  blood,  familiar  associations  or  valu- 
able services,  have  become  dear  to  us,  and  by  the  will  of  God  have 
been  separated  from  us  forever.  There  are  thousands  within  the 
reach  of  my  voice  who  have  been  made  painfully  conscious  of  this 
instinct  by  the  bereavements  which  the  unhappy  domestic  conflict 
just  ended  has  visited  upon  them.  When  the  burden  of  grief  lies 
heavy  on  the  heart,  it  is  the  first  impulse  of  our  nature  to  prolong 
the  remembrance,  to  grave  into  the  solid  stone,  which  shall  endure 
when  we  have  perished,  some  appropriate  thought,  or,  it  may  be 
the  simple  names  of  those  we  have  loved  and  lost.  Kindred  to 
these  tributes  of  affection  is  the  debt  of  gratitude  which  a  whole 
community,  represented  here  in  countless  numbers,  has  assembled 
to  discharge  by  the  erection  of  a  monument  suited  in  its  proportions 
to  the  great  qualities  of  him  whom  it  is  to  commemorate — to  lay 
the  foundation  of  the  structure,  which  is  to  be  piled  up,  stone  up- 
on stone,  from  the  earth  beneath  our  feet  to  the  sky  above  us,  and 
thus  to  symbolize  the  eminence  to  which  he  rose  by  his  genius  and 
his  transcendent  public  services  above  the  plane  of  elevation  where 
the  great  mass  of  his  contemporaries  stood  and  toiled  and  struggled 
in  the  hard  battle  of  life. 

Thirty-three  years  ago,  the  year  after  Chicago  was  founded,  a 
crowd  of  people  were  assembled  at  Winchester,  in  Scott  county, 
in  this  State,  to  attend  a  sale  of  valuable  property.  When  it  was 
about  to  commence  a  clerk  was  wanted  to  keep  the  accounts,  and 
no  one  could  be  found  who  was  willing  to  undertake  the  service. 
At  this  moment  a  youth,  slender  in  person  and  feeble  in  health, 
who  had  come  on  foot  from  a  neighboring  town,  joined  the  assem- 
bled crowd.  He  was  at  once  singled  out  by  the  salesman  as  one 
competent  to  the  service,  and  at  his  urgent  solicitation,  and 
tempted,  no  doubt,  by  the  offer  of  $2  a  day,  the  youthful  stranger 
accepted  it.  The  sale  occupid  three  days,  and  before  it  was  ended 
he  had  won  all  hearts  by  his  intelligence,  his  promptitude,  his 
frankness  and  his  urbanity.  It  was  the  general  judgment  that  a 
young  man  of  so  much  promise  should  not  be  permitted  to  leave 
the  neighborhood.  A  school  was  provided  for  him;  and  thus  as  a 
clerk  and  a  teacher,  a  stranger,  without  friends  and  without  means, 
not  twenty-one  years  of  age,  relying  on  the  talents  God  had  given 
him,  on  an  industry  which  never  wearied,  and  a  courage  which 
never  wavered,  Stephen  Arnold  Douglas  entered  upon  the  great 
field  of  his  labor  in  the  West.  It  cannot  be  doubted  that  among 
a  people  battling  with  the  hardships  of  a  new  country  the  favor- 


DOUGLAS    MONUMENT.  67 

able  impression  which  his  first  appearance  had  made  was  con- 
firmed by  a  knowledge  of  the  difficulties  he  had  overcome  in  pre- 
paring himself  for  active  life.  There  was  no  romance  in  his  early 
years.  His  youth  was  the  history  of  hard  work  and  of  a  perpetual 
struggle  to  cultivate  the  talents  of  which  he  must  have  become 
conscious  in  his  boyhood.  He  was  born  in  Brandon,  Vt.,  on  the 
23d  of  April,  1813.  On  the  first  of  July  ensuing,  his  father  died 
suddenly  while  holding  his  infant  son  in  his  arms.  The  first  fif- 
teen years  of  his  life  were  passed  on  a  farm,  with  such  advantages 
of  instruction  as  the  district  school  afforded.  Having  no  other 
means  of  education,  he  apprenticed  himself  to  a  carpenter  and 
worked  two  years  at  his  trade,  but  was  compelled  to  abandon  it 
for  want  of  physical  strength.  He  returned  to  his  native  town, 
entered  an  academy  and  devoted  himself  to  classical  studies  for  a 
year.  He  then  removed  to  Canandaigua,  in  New  York,  and  re- 
mained there  three  years,  continuing  his  classical  studies  and  for  a 
portion  of  the  time  studying  law.  In  all  these  phases  of  his  youth 
he  evinced  the  same  intelligence  and  the  same  energy  which  dis- 
tinguished his  later  years.  As  an  apprentice  to  a  carpenter  he 
displayed  a  remarkable  genius  for  mechanics,  and  had  not  nature 
marked  him  out  for  eminence  in  another  sphere  of  action,  he  might 
have  become  one  of  the  distinguished  architects  of  the  country. 
In  his  classical  and  legal  studies  he  exhibited  the  same  capacity 
for  distinction,  and  while  engaged  in  the  study  of  the  law  he  com- 
pleted, to  use  the  language  of  his  biographer,  "  nearly  the  entire 
collegiate  course  in  most  of  the  various  branches  required  of  a 
graduate  in  our  best  universities.  He  is  next  seen  as  a  clerk  in  a 
lawyer's  office  in  Cleveland,  Ohio;  then  traveling  in  the  West  in- 
pursuit  of  employment,  stopping  at  Cincinnati,  Louisville,  St. 
Louis  and  Jacksonville,  and  at  last  making  his  appearance  at  Win- 
chester, and  commencing  in  the  manner  already  described  his 
great  career  of  usefulness  and  distinction. 

There  is  nothing  more  touching  than  his  brief  address  to  the  peo- 
ple of  Winchester,  when  he  visited  that  place  in  1858,  after  hav- 
ing become  distinguished  in  the  councils  of  the  nation.  "Twen- 
ty-five years  ago,"  he  said,  "  I  entered  this  town  on  foot,  with  my 
coat  upon  my  arm,  without  an  acquaintance  within  a  thousand 
miles,  and  without  knowing  where  I  could  get  money  to  pay  a 
week's  board.  Here  I  made  the  first  six  dollars  I  ever  earned  in 
my  life,  and  obtained  the  first  regular  occupation  that  I  ever  pur- 
sued. For  the  first  time  in  my  life  I  felt  that  the  responsibilities 
of  manhood  were  upon  me,  although  I  was  under  age,  for  I  had 


68  HISTOKY    OF   THE 

none  to  advise  with  and  knew  none  upon  whom  I  had  a  right  to 
call  for  assistance  or  friendship."  Fellow  citizens,  the  history  of 
Mr.  Douglas  would  not  have  been  congruous,  and  it  might  have 
been  far  less  distinguished,  but  for  the  hard  struggles  of  his  youth 
— but  for  his  severe  discipline  in  cultivating  the  intellectual  pow- 
ers with  which  nature  had  endowed  him.  We  do  not  consider, 
when  we  commiserate  the  trials  of  the  young  and  unfriended,  toil- 
ing on  their  weary  way  to  reputation  and  fortune,  that  it  is  this 
very  process  by  which  men  are  made  successful  and  great.  Spare, 
then,  your  sympathy  for  those  who  in  their  youth  are  contending 
with  difficulties,  and  bestow  it  on  those  who,  with  all  their  needs 
supplied,  and  without  the  stimulant  of  want,  are  in  danger  of  sinking 
into  inaction  and  mediocrity.  It  is  Providence  which  in  its  mercy 
throws  obstacles  in  the  path  of  him  whom  it  marks  out  for  emi- 
nence, that  he  may  gain  strength  and  courage  and  resolution  in 
overcoming  them.  It  is  thus  that  the  path  to  greatness  is  made 
smooth  in  after  life  by  the  hard  trials  of  our  early  years.  At  the 
end  of  three  months  Mr.  Douglas  gave  up  his  school  at  Winches- 
ter, and  commenced  the  practice  of  the  law  in  Jacksonville.  A 
mere  youth  himself,  he  had  already  given  evidence  of  his  fitness 
to  be  a  teacher  of  men.  From  this  moment  he  became  conspicu- 
ous throughout  the  State,  and  he  achieved  a  series  of  triumphs  un- 
exampled in  the  career  of  any  one  of  his  age.  At  the  bar  and  in 
the  political  field  he  took  from  the  outset  a  leading  part,  meeting 
the  ablest  and  most  experienced  advocates  and  orators  in  debate, 
and  always  coming  out  of  the  intellectual  combats  in  which  he 
was  engaged  with  increasing  reputation.  Offices  poured  in  upon 
him  in  rapid  succession. 

Early  in  1835,  fourteen  months  after  his  appearance  at  Win- 
chester, he  was  chosen,  by  the  Legislature  of  the  State,  Attorney 
for  the  Judicial  District;  in  1836  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
Legislature;  in  1837  he  was  appointed  Register  of  the  Land  Office 
under  the  Federal  Government,  and  in  1841  he  was  chosen  a  Judge 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State.  It  is  not  possible  within  the 
limits  of  an  address  to  say  more  than  this:  that  in  every  position 
to  which  he  was  called  he  maintained  the  same  high  standing  for  in- 
tegrity, talent  and  courage,  and  that  with  every  advance  in  the 
importance  of  the  offices  he  filled,  he  developed  a  corresponding 
power  and  capacity  for  the  discharge  of  their  duties.  In  1843  he  was 
elected  a  Representative  in  Congress,  and  from  this  period  his  rep- 
utation ceased  to  be  local  and  became  identified  with  the  history 
of  the  country-  His  first  eifort  as  a  speaker  in  the  Federal  Legis- 


DOUGLAS    MONUMENT.  69 

lature  was  as  effective  as  his  first  appearance  at  Winchester.  A 
bill  was  before  the  House  of  Representatives  remitting  the  fine 
imposed  on  General  Jackson  by  the  Judge  of  the  New  Orleans  dis- 
trict after  the  receipt  of  the  intelligence  of  peace  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britian,  in  February,  1815.  During  the 
siege  the  General  had  declared  martial  law  and  resisted  the  exe- 
cution of  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  issued  by  the  judge.  As  soon 
as  peace  was  proclaimed  he  rescinded  the  order  declaring  martial 
law,  surrendered  himself  to  the  court  and  was  fined  $1,000.  The  bill 
before  Congress  provided  for  refunding  the  fine.  It  had  been  ad- 
vocated chiefly  on  the  score  of  General  Jackson's  great  services 
to  the  country;  and  it  was  conceded  that  he  had  exercised  an  ar- 
bitrary power  unwarranted  by  the  Constitution.  Mr.  Douglas  took 
different  and  higher  ground.  He  contended  that  the  judge  was 
wrong  in  imposing  the  fine,  and  that  the  General  did  not  "assume 
to  himself  any  authority  which  was  not  fully  warranted  by  his  po- 
sition, his  duty  and  the  unavoidable  necessity  of  the  case." 

These  positions  were  maintained  with  an  ability  so  marked  as  to 
attract  and  command  general  attention  ;  and  from  that  time  forth 
he  was  ranked  with  the  ablest  debaters,  in  a  body  numbering 
among  its  members  some  of  the  most  distinguished  men  in  the 
country.  It  was  natural  that  Mr.  Douglas,  trained  as  his  mind  had 
been  from  its  earliest  years  to  habits  of  self-reliance,  should,  in 
dealing  with  constitutional  questions,  strike  out  from  the  beaten 
track  of  interpretation  into  new  paths.  The  instance  I  have  cited 
is  not  the  only  one.  In  a  speech  in  the  House  of  Representatives 
on  the  annexation  of  Texas,  he  took  the  ground  that  the  right  to 
acquire  territory,  one  of  the  most  vexed  questions  of  constitutional 
authority,  was  included  within  the  power  to  admit  new  States  into 
the  Union.  So,  at  a  subsequent  period,  as  Chairman  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Territories  in  the  Senate,  he  contended  that  the  right  to 
establish  territorial  governments,  was  also  included  in  the  power 
to  admit  new  States.  In  nearly  all  preceding  discussions,  it  had 
been  assumed  that  the  right  to  institute  governments  for  the  terri- 
tories was  included  in  the  power  "to  dispose  of  and  make  all  need- 
ful rules  and  regulations  respecting  the  territory  or  other  property 
belonging  to  the  United  States.  "  The  propositions  thus  advanced 
by  Mr.  Douglas,  were  stated  and  defended  with  his  native  clear- 
ness and  force,  and  they  may  be  considered  as  constituting  an  es- 
sential part  of  the  great  body  of  commentary  by  which  the  exercise 
of  the  powers  referred  to  is  surrounded,  and  in  regard  to  which  di- 
visions of  opinion  will  continue  to  exist,  notwithstanding  the 


70  HISTORY   OF   THE 

practical  interpretation  they  have  received  in  the  legislation  of  the 
country. 

In  1846,  three  years  after  his  election  to  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, he  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  and  he  was  continued  in  that  body  by  successive  re-elections 
until  his  death  in  June,  18G1.  As  a  member  of  both  bodies  he 
took  part  in  the  discussion  of  nearly  every  great  question  which 
arose  during  those  eighteen  years  of  unexampled  agitation  and  ex- 
citement. His  speeches  on  the  annexation  of  Texas,  the  war  with 
Mexico,  our  foreign  policy,  the  aggressions  of  European  states  in 
America,  the  extension  of  our  own  territorial  limits,  the  compro- 
mise acts  of  1850,  the  Oregon,  California,  Kansas,  Nebraska  and 
Lecompton  controversies,  internal  improvements,  and  incidentally 
the  question  of  slavery,  the  prolific  source  of  nearly  all  the  agita- 
tions of  the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  and  of  the  civil  war  which 
has  drenched  the  country  in  fraternal  blood,  are  all  marked  by  the 
clearness,  vigor  and  boldness  which  were  the  chief  character-is^ cs 
of  his  oratory.  It  was  perhaps  in  the  patriotic  but  vain  attempt 
to  calm  the  prevailing  excitement  and  close  up  forever  the  source 
of  the  dissensions  which  had  so  long  distracted  the  country,  by 
the  preparation  and  defense  of  the  compromise  measures  of  1850, 
that  the  great  ability  of  Mr.  Douglas  was  more  signally  displayed 
than  in  any  other  political  labor  of  his  life.  In  January,  1850,  Mr. 
Clay  introduced  into  the  Senate  a  series  of  resolutions,  hoping  that 
they  might  be  made  a  basis  of  legislation  which  would  be  satisfac- 
tory to  the  contending  parties.  While  these  resolutions  were  un- 
der consideration,  Mr.  Douglas,  as  chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Territories,  introduced  two  bills — one  for  the  admission  of  Califor- 
nia into  the  Union  as  a  State,  and  the  other  for  the  organization  of 
the  Territories  of  Utah  and  New  Mexico  and  the  adjustment  of  the 
boundary  question  with  Texas. 

In  April  a  committee  of  thirteen,  with  Mr.  Clay  at  its  head,  was 
appointed,  and  all  propositions  concerning  the  slavery  question 
were  referred  to  it.  On  the  8th  of  May,  Mr.  Clay  reported  from 
the  committee  Mr.  Douglas'  two  bills  combined  in  one,  with  a  sin- 
gle amendment.  When  introduced  by  the  latter  they  provided  that 
the  power  of  the  Territorial  Legislature  should  embrace  all  subjects 
of  legislation  consistent  with  the  Constitution.  As  reported  by  Mr. 
Clay,  the  slavery  question  was  expressly  excepted  from  the  power 
of  legislation.  This  exception  was  subsequently  rescinded,  and 
the  bill  was  passed  as  originally  reported  by  Mr.  Douglas.  The 
compromise  measures,  so  far  as  they  related  to  the  organization  of 


DOUGLAS    MONUMENT.  71 

the  Territories,  were  his  work  and  they  were  founded  on  the  prin- 
ciple that  the  people  of  the  Territories,  through  their  legislatures, 
should  determine  the  slavery  question  for  themselves  "  and  have 
the  same  power  over  it  as  over  all  other  matters  affecting  their 
internal  policy."  These  measures,  as  you  all  know,  though  they 
were,  at  the  Presidential  election  of  1852,  approved  by  both  the 
the  great  political  parties,  were  far  from  calming  the  popular  ex- 
citement. And  when  Mr.  Douglas,  in  1858,  as  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Territories,  introduced  the  Kansas- Nebraska  Bill, 
it  led  to  a  fierce  and  protracted  discussion.  The  object,  as  the  com- 
mittee declared  in  a  special  report  accompanying  it,  was  "  to  or- 
ganize all  Territories  in  the  future  upon  the  principles  of  the  com- 
promise measures  of  1850;"  and  "  that  these  measures  were  intended 
to  have  a  much  broader  and  enduring  effect  than  merely  to  adjust 
the  disputed  question  growing  out  of  the  acquisition  of  Mexican 
territory,  by  prescribing  certain  fundamental  principles,  which, 
while  they  adjusted  the  existing  difficulties,  would  prescribe  rules 
of  action  in  all  future  time,  when  new  Territories  were  to  be 
organized  or  new  States  to  be  admitted  into  the  Union.  That  the 
principle  upon  which  the  Territories  of  1850  were  organized  was, 
that  the  slavery  question  should  be  banished  from  the  halls  of 
Congress  and  the  political  arena,  and  referred  to  the  Territories 
and  States  which  were  immediately  interested  in  the  question,  and 
alone  responsible  for  its  existence,"  and  the  report  concluded  by 
saying  that  "the  bill  reported  by  the  committee  proposed  to  car- 
ry into  effect  these  principles  in  the  precise  language  of  the  com- 
promise measures  of  1850."  The  repeal  of  the  Missouri  com- 
promise was  incorporated  into  the  bill  at  a  subsequent  period  as 
an  amendment,  and  in  this  form  it  passed  both  houses  of  Congress 
and  became  a  law  in  1854. 

Whatever  differences  of  opinion  may  exist,  or  may  heretofore 
have  existed,  in  regard  to  these  measures,  no  one  at  this  day  will 
call  in  question  the  patriotic  motive  by  which  Mr.  Douglas  was  ac- 
tuated, his  deep  anxiety  to  preserve  the  harmony  of  the  Union,  his 
sincerity  and  the  great  intellectual  power  with  which  he  maintained 
every  position  he  took.  No  opposition  in  or  out  of  the  Senate,  no 
popular  clamor,  no  fear  of  personal  consequences,  disturbed  his 
equanimity  or  his  courage.  He  threw  himself  into  every  arena  in 
which  he  was  assailed,  and  defended  himself  with  an  intrepidity 
and  a  manly  frankness  which  always  commanded  the  respect  of 
those  who  differed  with  him,  and  with  a  vigor  which  often  won 
them  over  to  his  own  convictions.  At  no  period  of  his  life,  per- 


72  HISTORY    OF    THE 

haps,  did  Mr.  Douglas  appear  so  remarkable  as  on  an  occasion 
which  you  all  remember — when  he  returned  to  this  city  in  1854 
where  he  had  often  been  received  with  triumphant  demonstrations 
of  respect,  and  appointed  a  meeting  in  front  of  the  North  Market 
hall,  to  speak  in  defense  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill.  It  was  a  mo- 
ment of  the  wildest  excitement  throughout  the  country.  Kansas  was 
rent  by  contending  parties;  associations  had  been  organized  and 
armed,  North  and  South — the  latter  to  force  slavery  into  that  ter- 
ritory, and  the  former  to  exclude  it  by  force.  Such  was  the  popu- 
lar indignation  that  it  was  determined  Mr.  Douglas  should  not  be 
heard.  For  more  than  four  hours  he  faced  an  angry  and  excited 
multitude,  calm,  undaunted,  regardless  of  personal  danger,  attempt- 
ing to  speak  in  the  intervals  of  popular  clamor,  and  at  last  quietly 
retiring  unhear»l,but  not  the  lessunconquered  and  unconquerable. 
Fellow-citizens,  no  man  that  ever  lived  could  have  confronted  such 
a  demonstration  of  popular  disapproval  if  he  had  not  felt  that  he 
had  done  right.  Courage  and  a  consciousness  of  wrong  are  never 
companions  of  each  other;  and  it  may  be  sa'ely  said  that  there  is 
not  one  of  those  who  was  then  arrayed  against  him  that  will  not, 
now  that  excitement  and  passion  have  passed  away,  bear  testimony 
to  the  sincerity  of  his  convictions,  and  the  moral  grandeur  with 
which  he  maintained  and  defended  them.  The  peculiar  constitu- 
tion of  our  government  and  the  character  of  our  people  have  given 
an  impulse  to  public  speaking  unknown  to  any  other  country.  Or- 
atory is  of  the  natural  growth  of  free  institutions.  There  are  no 
orators  where  there  is  no  freedom  of  speech.  They  degenerated 
and  disappeared  in  Greece  after  the  era  of  Philip,  and  in  Rome 
after  the  era  of  Augustus. 

Suffrage  and  education  being  nearly  universal  with  us,  all  have 
the  desire  and  need  to  know  whatever  concerns  the  administra- 
tion of  public  affairs.  The  communication  of  intelligence  in  re- 
gard to  the  designs  and  the  policy  of  parties  by  the  press  is,  to  a 
great  extent,  ex  parte  and  incomplete;  and  the  defect  has  led  to  a 
practice  peculiar  to  the  United  States,  of  holding  assemblies  of  the 
people  in  which  all  unite  for  the  purpose  of  discussing  public 
questions,  both  sides  being  defended  respectively,  by  speakers  of 
opposite  opinions.  This  practice  is  general  in  the  Western  and 
Southern  States,  but  less  so  in  the  Middle  and  Eastern.  It  is  to 
be  regretted  that  it  is  not  universal.  Nothing  can  be  more  fair 
than  such  a  comparison  and  criticism  of  measures  and  opinions. 
When  misstatements  may  be  instantly  corrected,  there  is  no  tempt- 
ation to  make  them,  as  there  is  in  mere  party  meetings;  and  the 


DOUGLAS   MONUMENT.  73 

facts  of  the  case  being  undisputed,  the  influence  of  the  speaker, 
apart  from  the  merits  of  his  cause,  depends  altogether  on  the  pow- 
er of  his  eloquence  and  the  soundness  of  his  logic.  It  has  the  ad- 
vantage of  carrying  before  the  great  tribunal  of  the  people  in 
every  neighborhood  (for  there  is  scarcely  a  locality  in  which  such 
meetings  are  not  held)  the  issues  to  be  tried;  and  thus  before  the 
right  of  suffrage  is  exercised  every  man  is  enabled  to  form  an  in- 
telligent understanding  of  the  duty  he  is  to  perform.  It  was  in 
this  field  of  public  debate  that  Mr.  Douglas'  oratory  was,  to  a 
great  extent,  found.  His  labors  at  various  periods  of  his  life  in 
traversing  the  State  for  the  purpose  of  addressing  these  assemblies 
of  the  people  are  almost  incredible;  and  the  influence  he  acquired 
is  due  in  a  great  degree  to  the  impression  which  he  made  on  these 
occasions  by  his  eloquence  and  his  logical  power. 

The  most  memorable  of  these  popular  canvasses,  and  one  which 
is  not  likely  ever  again  to  occur,  was  that  of  1858,  when  Mr.  Lin- 
coln and  Mr.  Douglas,  both  candidates  for  the  senate  at  the  time, 
and  for  the  presidency  two  years  afterwards,  traversed  the  State, 
speaking  together  at  different  places  designated  by  previous  ap- 
pointment and  published  for  the  information  of  the  people.  The 
magnitude  of  the  issues  involved  in  the  election  of  that  year  (far 
more  vital  to  the  peace  and  permanent  interests  of  the  country 
than  any  one  at  that  time  could  have  foreseen,  although  subse- 
quent events  were  even  then  faintly  foreshadowed),  the  great  abil- 
ity of  the  speakers,  the  confidence  reposed  in  them  by  the  political 
parties  which  they  respectively  represented,  and  the  immense  mul- 
titudes that  were  drawn  together  to  witness  so  extraordinary  a  con- 
test, gave  it  an  importance  which  no  similar  trial  of  intellectual 
power  has  ever  attained.  The  relation  in  which  they  stood  to  each 
other  and  the  whole  country  so  soon  afterwards,  give  it,  now  that 
their  earthly  labors  are  ended,  a  posthumous  character  of  heroism 
surpassing  that  which  it  possessed  at  the  time.  They  may  be  said 
with  perfect  truth  to  have  been  the  nation's  representatives  and  the 
exponents  of  its  opinions.  They  were  actors  in  a  political  drama  as 
far  transcending  in  grandeur  all  other  popular  canvasses,  as  an  epic 
rises  in  dignity  above  a  narrative  of  ordinary  life.  In  April,  1861, 
when  the  first  gun  was  fired  upon  Fort  Sumter,  Mr.  Lincoln  and 
Mr.  Douglas  were  again  together,  the  former  as  President,  and  the 
latter  as  a  Senator  of  the  United  States,  taking  counsel  in  regard 
to  the  measures  to  be  adopted  to  vindicate  the  insulted  honor  of 
the  government,  to  uphold  its  violated  authority,  and  to  save  the 
Union  from  forcible  dismemberment.  Mr.  Douglas  advised  the 


74  HISTOEY    OF   THE 

most  ample  preparations  and  the  most  vigorous  action.  I  'have  the 
highest  authority  for  saying  that  he  had  the  entire  confidence  of  the 
President,  and  when  they  parted,  Mr.  Douglas  set  out  on  that  last 
great  service  of  traversing  the  free  States,  and  rousing  them  by  his 
resistless  eloquence  to  the  great  duty  of  maintaining  the  Union  un- 
broken against  the  gigantic  treason  by  which  its  existence  was 
threatened.  And  thus  these  two  distinguished  men,  so  recently 
opposed  to  each  other,  came  together  in  friendly  confidence  under 
the  impulse  of  an  exalted  patriotism,  and  an  impending  national 
peril,  forgetting  past  differences,  having  no  thought  of  themselves, 
and  desirous  only  of  knowing  how  each  could  do  most  for  the  com- 
mon cause.  It  pleased  God  that  both  should  perish  in  carrying  out 
the  great  purposes  of  their  hearts.  Mr.  Douglas  died  of  a  disease 
contracted  in  his  herculean  efforts  in  canvassing  the  North  and 
West  in  support  of  the  war.  Mr.  Lincoln  died  by  a  flagitious  act 
of  cowardice  and  crime  on  the  very  day  when  the  old  flag  went  up 
on  the  battlements  of  Fort  Sumter,  amid  the  shouts,  the  congratu- 
lations and  the  tears  of  the  thousands  who  came  together  to  witness 
this  significant  vindication  of  the  national  power.  Happily  the  one 
was  spared  till  he  saw  the  people  of  the  free  States  inspired  with 
his  own  enthusiasm  in  the  country's  cause;  the  other,  till  he  had 
made  his  name  immortal  by  striking  from  the  limbs  of  three  mil- 
lion human  beings  the  manacles  of  slavery,  and  seen  the  last  hos- 
tile force  surrendered  to  the  armies  of  the  Union. 

Fellow  citizens,  there  is  a  view  of  this  sudden  revolution  in  the 
social  condition  of  the  colored  race,  which  ought  never  to  be  over- 
looked. The  proclamation  of  Mr.  Lincoln  abolishing  slavery  was 
an  act  of  war,  and  extended  only  to  the  States  which  had  taken  up 
arms  against  the  government.  It  did  not  reach  Maryland,  Dele- 
ware,  Kentucky  or  Tennessee,  which  remained  true  to  their  alle- 
giance. Slavery  still  existed  in  those  States;  and  for  its  final  ex- 
tinction, for  the  consummation  of  the  great  measure  of  manumis- 
sion, for  the  obliteration  of  the  only  feature  in  our  political  consti- 
tution which  has  ever  been  regarded  as  inconsistant  with  its  fun- 
damental principles  of  freedom  and  equality,  the  country  is  in- 
debted to  the  prestent  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  Union.  His 
personal  influence  with  the  South  has  achieved  what  no  power  of 
the  government  could  have  effected — the  adoption  by  three-fourths 
of  the  states  of  the  constitutional  amendment  declaring  slavery 
forever  abolished  throughout  the  Union.  The  glory  of  President 
Lincoln  is  to  have,  by  an  act  of  his  own  will,  emancipated  all 
slaves  within  the  reach  of  his  legitimate  power.  The  glory  of 


DOUGLAS   MONUMENT.  75 

President  Johnson  is  to  have  completed  what  the  former  left  un- 
finished, and  to  have  made  the  Constitution  what  eleven  of  the 
thirteen  original  parties  to  it  desired  to  make  it  at  its  formation. 
Two  of  the  slave  states  refused  to  concur  in  the  great  measure  of 
1865,  and  it  will  be  recorded  in  our  history  as  one  of  the  marvels 
of  the  times  that  slavery  was  abolished  in  Kentucky  and  Deleware 
by  the  votes  of  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Mississippi  and  Alabama. 
Let  the  fact  be  proclaimed  in  honor  of  the  last  named  states,  and 
it  need  not  be  doubted  that  the  time  is  near  at  hand  when  they 
will  find,  in  high  moral  considerations,  and  an  immeasurably  in- 
creased prosperity,  cause  to  congratulate  themselves  that  their 
names  are  enrolled  in  the  great  army  of  emancipators  throughout 
the  civilized  world.  In  the  State  of  Illinois,  there  has  been  no 
great  interest  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  with  which  Mr.  Douglas 
was  not  in  some  degree  identified.  His  views  were  eminently  con- 
servative. He  opposed  all  useless  expenditures,  all  loose  interpre- 
tations of  organic  or  administrative  laws,  all  attempts  to  evade 
obligations  resting  upon  legitimate  compacts;  and  yet  he  was  al- 
ways one  of  the  foremost  in  advocating  judicious  internal  improve- 
ments. He  was  particularly  conspicuous  for  his  persevering  efforts 
to  secure  the  grant  of  lands  from  the  United  States  for  the  Illlinois 
Central  Railroad,  to  which  so  much  of  the  prosperity  of  the  State 
is  due.  It  is  no  injustice  to  the  representatives  in  Congress  from 
Illinois,  to  whose  active  and  zealous  co-operation  with  him  that  in- 
valuable grant  was  obtained,  to  say  that  but  for  his  determined  op- 
position, it  would  have  been  made  to  a  private  company,  and  not, 
as  he  insisted  it  should  be,  to  the  State. 

You  all  remember  his  earnest  and  long  continued  exertions,  ex- 
tending through  a  series  of  years,  to  procure  the  passage  of  a  bill 
by  Congress  for  the  construction  of  the  Pacific  railroad,  the  most 
gigantic  enterprise  of  this  or  any  other  age.  He  addressed  pub- 
lic meetings  and  wrote  papers  to  enforce  upon  the  judgment  of 
the  country  the  necessity  of  executing  a  work  which  he  regarded 
as  destined  to  become  one  of  the  strongest  bonds  of  Union  between 
the  States  and  the  people  on  the  two  shores  of  this  continent,  and 
as  essential  to  the  full  development  of  our  internal  resources  and 
our  commercial  capacity.  He  did  not  live  to  see  the  great  enter- 
prise commenced.  But,  thanks  to  him  and  those  who  like  him 
foresaw  its  importance  without  being  appalled  by  its  magnitude, 
it  is  now  in  a  course  of  rapid  execution.  It  was  commenced  a 
year  ago;  the  tracklayers  passed  Fort  Kearney  on  the  20th  of  last 
month;  they  are  now  more  tnan  200  miles  west  of  Omaha;  they 


6  HISTORY    OF    THE 

are  more  than  }  alf  way  across  the  Continent.  On  the  1st  of  April 
next,  this  city  will  reach,  by  one  unbroken  railway  communica- 
tion, into  the  heart  of  the  great  plains  which  stretch  from  the 
Rocky  mountains  eastward,  and  be  within  200  miles  of  Denver,  in 
Colorado.  Of  the  3,300  miles  of  railroad  required  in  this  parallel  of 
latitude  to  cross  the  continent,  only  1,300  will  remain  unfinished. 
There  is  every  reason  to  believe,  should  no  unforeseen  event  oc- 
cur to  retard  it,  that  in  five  years  from  this  time  the  work  will  be 
completed,  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  oceans  and  the  population  on 
their  respective  shores  will  be  united  by  bonds  of  iron  which  no 
man  can  break,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  trade  with  China  will 
be  turned  from  maratime  into  overland  channels.  The  results  to 
which  this  improvement  must  lead,  no  human  sagacity  can  foresee, 
and  no  human  calculation  compute. 

.  In  connection  with  this  subject,  let  me  recall  to  your  remembrance 
the  general  gloom  which  overspread  the  country  when  the  late  civil 
war  broke  out.  The  stoutest  hearts  were  not  without  their  misgiv- 
ings, and  even  those  of  us  who  never  doubted  the  issue,  and  who 
were  determined  from  the  beginning  to  fight  it  out  to  the  end,  with- 
out regard  to  consequences,  had  our  hours  and  days  of  the  deepest 
anxiety.  While  calling  out,  like  the  psalmist,  from  the  depths  of 
our  distress,  "  De  profundis"  the  gates  of  our  valleys  and  our 
everlasting  hills  were  unlocked,  as  if  in  response  to  our  cry,  and 
treasures  which  had  lain  buried  in  the  darkness  of  ages  were  poured 
out  in  boundless  profusion,  to  sustain  us  under  the  enormous  burdens 
cast  upon  us  by  the  war.  To  these  prolific  fountains  of  wealth  the 
Pacific  railroad  is  to  convey  us  on  its  way  across  the  continent — to 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  the  Sierra  Nevada,  and  the  lower  gold  and 
silver  bearing  ranges.  The  auriferous  mountains  of  Europe  and 
Asia  have  been  penetrated  and  ransacked  for  thousands  of  years  for 
the  precious  metals  they  contain.  Ours  are,  as  yet,  almost  un- 
touched, and  there  is  every  reason  to  believe — I  had  almost  said  to 
fear — that  the  treasures  which  are  to  be  developed  and  distributed 
among  us  will  exceed  all  that  history  has  pictured  of  the  riches  of 
the  great  oriental  empires.  For  let  us  bear  in  our  remembrance 
that  the  administration  of  wealth  by  governments  is  always  a  source 
of  corruption;  that  communities  grow  less  scrupulous  as  they  grow 
more  rich;  that  simplicity  of  manners  gives  way  to  luxury  and  econ- 
omy to  extravagance;  and  that  rivalry  in  industry  is  succeeded  by 
that  worst  and  most  demoralizing  of  all  competition — emulation  in 
expenditure.  Social  evils  of  this  sort  may  be  endured  and  made 
comparatively  innoxious  so  long  as  public  legislation  is  pure.  I  say 


DOUGLAS   MONUMENT.  77 

to  you  then,  men  of  the  West,  look  to  the  purity  of  your  representa- 
tives in  your  State  legislatures  and  in  Congress.  Let  them  be  men 
of  talent,  if  they  are  also  men  of  integrity.  But  let  them,  first  of 
all,  be  honest  and  incorruptible.  It  was  the  good  fortune  of  Mr. 
Douglas  to  have  borne  his  part  in  the  national  councils,  when  incor- 
ruptibility was  deemed  as  essential  in  a  public  legislator  as  chastity 
in  a  woman,  and  to  have  gone  through  life,  during  the  highest 
party  excitement,  without  a  stain  on  his  reputation  in  his  personal 
or  public  relations.  Impure  legislation  was  the  evil  for  which, 
above  all  others,  the  founders  of  our  government  had  the  deepest 
concern. 

Quod  nostri  timuere  patres, 

and  it  is  on  you,  as  voters,  holding  in  your  hands  the  power  of 
selection,  that  the  responsibility  rests  of  maintaining  the  stability 
of  the  government  by  confiding  its  administration,  and  especially 
its  legislative  functions,  to  pure  men.  It  has  pleased  the  Sovereign 
R  der  of  the  Universe  to  strengthen  and  uphold  us  in  the 
seasons  of  our  adversity  and  peril.  Let  us  implore  Him  not 
to  leave  us  to  ourselves  in  the  more  dangerous  ordeal  of 
our  prosperity.  Tho  oratory  of  Mr.  Douglas  was  marked  by 
the  same  characteristics  which  distinguished  him  in  all  the 
actions  of  his  life.  It  was  bold,  earnest,  forcible  and  impress- 
ive. It  is  quite  manifest  that  he  never  chose  as  a  model  any  one 
of  the  great  orators  of  his  own  time  or  of  the  past.  It  is  equally 
certain  that  he  bestowed  little  labor  on  ornament.  He  seems  to 
have  had  a  single  object  in  the  preparation  of  his  speeches — to 
express  his  thoughts  in  the  simplest  and  most  forcible  words,  and  to 
give  to  his  hearers  the  clearest  conception  of  his  meaning  ;  and  it 
was  from  the  steady  pursuit  of  this  object  that  he  acquired  the  ex- 
traordinary power  which  he  possessed  of  moving  other  minds,  by 
pouring  into  them  the  overpowering  convictions  of  his  own.  He 
never  turned  out  of  the  direct  path  of  logical  deduction  to  run  after 
a  rhetorical  figure.  He  never  impaired  the  force  of  a  plain  propo- 
sition by  loading  it  with  unnecessary  words.  His  style  was  the 
growth  of  practice  in  speaking  rather  than  study — a  practice  which 
began  in  his  boyhood,  and  which,  through  his  early  appointment 
to  offices  requiring  argument  and  debate,  became  a  part  of  his 
daily  life.  It  is  doubtful  whether  any  man  of  his  age  ever  spoke 
so  often  in  courts,  legislative  bodies  and  in  popular  assemblies. 
Hi  maybe  said  to  have  been  eminently  an  orator  of  the  people. 
His  greatest  power  was,  perhaps,  in  influencing  the  judgments  and 
feelings  of  the  masses.  And  yet,  in  the  Senate  Chamber,  he  was 


78  HISTORY   OF   THE 

scarcely  less  distinguished.  He  was  for  years  the  associate  in  that 
arena  of  the  first  men  of  the  Union,  often  their  opponent  in  debate, 
and  never  coming  out  of  the  contest  without  honor.  Indeed,  as  a 
ready  and  effective  debater  he  had  very  few  equals.  His  long  and 
laborious  training  in  the  intellectual  battlefields  of  the  West,  his 
clear  mental  conceptions,  and  the  direct  and  forcible  rendering  of 
his  thoughts  gave  him  a  power  in  extemporaneous  discussions 
which  few  other  men  possessed.  It  is  unnecessary  to  say  to  you, 
who  knew  him  so  well,  that  there  were  occasions  when,  under  the 
influence  of  strong  excitement,  he  rose  to  the  very  highest  flights 
of  oratory;  when  the  passion  by  which  he  was  moved,  broke  out 
into  those  pointed  and  epigramatic  utterances  which  live  for  years 
after  the  lips  of  the  speaker  have  been  closed  forever.  Such  an  oc- 
casion occurred  in  the  debate  on  the  Mexican  war.  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  in  1846,  when  he  was  but  thirty-three  years  of 
age.  Some  of  the  ablest  and  most  prominent  members  of  that 
body  had  denounced  the  war  as  "  unholy,  unrighteous  and  damna- 
ble, "  when  Mr.  Douglas  turned  upon  them  with  the  following  out- 
burst of  fiery  indignation: — "  Sir,  I  tell  these  gentlemen  it  requires 
more  charity  than  falls  to  the  lot  of  frail  man  to  believe  that  the 
expression  of  such  sentiments  is  consistent  with  the  sincerity  of 
their  professions — with  patriotism,  honor  and  duty  to  their  country. 
Patriotism  emanates  from  the  heart,  it  fills  the  soul,  inspires  the 
whole  man  with  a  devotion  to  his  country's  cause  and  speaks  and 
acts  the  same  language. 

"  America  wants  no  friends,  acknowledges  the  fidelity  of  no 
citizen  who,  after  war  is  declared,  condemns  the  justice  of  her 
cause  and  sympathizes  with  the  enemy;  all  such  are  traitors  in 
their  hearts,  and  it  only  remains  for  them  to  commit  some 
overt  act  for  which  they  may  be  dealt  with  according  to  their 
deserts."  Though  Mr.  Douglas  was  always  a  member  of  the  dem- 
ocratic party,  he  never  considered  himself  bound  by  his  associa- 
tions to  support  measures  which  he  believed  wrong.  His  sense  of 
right,  his  conscientious  convictions  of  duty  were  with  him  obliga- 
tions above  all  party  ties.  It  was  under  this  high  feeling  of  honor 
and  self-respect,  and  with  an  independence  worthy  of  all  praise, 
that  he  broke  away  from  the  political  associations  with  which  he 
had  been  all  his  life  identified,  and  denounced,  resisted  and  opposed 
with  all  the  resistless  energy  of  his  character,  and  with  all  the  ear- 
nestness of  his  eloquence,  what  he  denominated  the  Lecompton 
fraud.  There  can  be  no  higher  evidence  of  his  stern  integrity  than 
his  course  on  this  occasion;  no  better  illustration  of  the  truth  that, 


DOUGLAS   MONUMENT.  79 

though  party  ties  may  bind  us  on  questions  of  mere  expediency, 
no  honest  man  will  hesitate  to  break  away  from  them  when  the  al- 
ternative is  to  do,  on  a  question  of  principle,  what  he  feels  to  be 
wrong.  The  last  public  appearance  of  Mr.  Douglas  was  on  two 
occasions,  one  immediately  succeeding  the  other.  On  his  return  to 
this  State,  after  the  attack  on  Fort  Sumter,  he  addressed  the  mem- 
bers of  the  legislature  at  their  request,  denouncing  the  rebellion, 
urging  the  oblivion  of  all  party  differences,  appealing  to  his  polit- 
ical friends  and  opponents  to  unite  in  support  of  the  government, 
and  calling  on  the  people  to  come  in  their  strength  to  its  rescue 
from  the  perils  which  surrounded  it,  and  preserve  the  Union  from 
being  broken  up  by  force  of  arms.  In  a  speech  to  the  people  of 
Chicago,  six  days  afterwards,  the  same  earnest  appeals  were  made 
to  them  to  lay  aside  all  considerations  but  that  of  preserving  the 
government  of  their  fathers.  On  this  occasion  he  was  received  by 
all  parties  with  demonstrations  of  respect,  surpassing  in  enthusi- 
asm, if  possible,  all  others  of  the  great  ovations  of  his  life.  These 
speeches,  though  pregnant  with  the  most  determined  spirit,  and 
with  an  un doubting  faith  in  the  issue  of  the  contest,  were  obvi- 
ously make  under  great  depression  of  feeling.  He  had  been  one 
of  the  most  consistent,  resolute  and  efficient  defenders  of  the  con- 
stitutional rights  of  the  Southern  States.  He  had  done  everything 
that  justice  and  magnanimity  dictated  to  sustain  them.  To  the 
members  of  the  legislature  he  said:  "  Whatever  errors  I  have  com- 
mitted have  been  leaning  too  far  to  the  Southern  section  of  the.  Un- 
ion against  my  own;"  to  the  people  of  Chicago,  that  he  had  gone 
"  to  the  utmost  extremity  of  magnanimity  and  generosity,"  and 
that  the  return  was  "  war  upon  the  government."  It  was  this  sense 
of  the  inutility  of  his  own  personal  sacrifices  and  labors,  and  the 
ungenerous  return  on  the  part  of  those  for  whom  he  and  others 
acting  with  him  had  done  so  much,  that  embittered  the  last  days 
of  his  life,  and  aggravated  the  disease  under  which  he  was  labor- 
ing. 

A  vein  of  sadness  runs  through  these  two  last  speeches,  and 
seems  now,  as  we  look  back  to  the  events  speedily  following  them, 
a  prefiguration  of  his  approaching  death.  On  these  two  intellec- 
tual efforts  his  reputation  may  well  rest,  as  examples  of  the  purest 
patriotism  and  of  an  undying  faith  in  the  ultimate  triumph  of  the 
cause  of  the  Union  A  few  hundred  yards  west  of  us,  shut  out 
from  our  sight  by  an  intervening  grove,  stands  the  Chicago  Uni- 
versity. In  the  magnitude  of  its  extent,  the  massiveness  of  its 
architecture  and  its  well-balanced  proportions,  it  is  not  only  an 


HISTORY    OF    THE 

ornament  to  the  city,  but  a  living  testimonial  of  the  liberality  with 
which  private  wealth  has  contributed  to  the  cause  of  science.  Two 
hundred  students  are  receiving  instruction  within  its  walls  from  a 
learned  and  accomplished  faculty,  and  from  its  noble  observatory 
astronomy  holds  nightly  consultations  with  the  heavenly  bodies. 
The  ample  grounds,  in  the  center  of  which  the  institution  stands, 
were  the  munificent  gift  of  Mr.  Douglas,  whose  name  the  main 
edifice  bears.  The  instruction  which  in  his  youth  he  labored  so 
hard  to  obtain,  he  wished  to  see  fully  extended  to  the  young 
men  of  this  city  and  State.  And  thus  shall  the  two  structures — 
that  of  which  he  was  one  of  the  enlightened  and  liberal  founders, 
and  this  of  which  you  have  laid  the  foundation  to-day — stand  side 
by  side,  we  trust  for  ages  to  come,  as  great  landmarks  of  civiliza- 
tion, on  the  shore  of  Lake  Michigan,  where  little  more  than  a  quar- 
ter of  a  century  ago  majestic  nature  from  the  beginning  of  time  had 
not  yet  been  roused  from  her  silent  and  solitary  sleep. 

And  now,  fellow-citizens,  our  task  is  done;  mine  in  this  brief 
and  imperfect  delineation  of  the  character  and  review  of  the  ser- 
vices of  Mr.  Douglas,  yours  in  laying  deep  in  the  solid  earth  the 
foundation  of  the  structure  which  is  to  bear  his  name,  and  stand 
for  centuries  as  a  memorial  to  your  children  of  one  whose  talents, 
political  and  personal  integrity  and  devotion  to  the  public  welfare 
you  would  wish  them  to  know  and  to  emulate.  In  the  changeful- 
ness  of  human  things  the  time  may  come  when  the  stone  which  is 
to  surmount  and  crown  it  may  be  brought  down  to  the  level  of  that 
which  is  to  be  laid  at  its  base  to-day.  For  families  and  races,  and 
communities  and  empires,  must,  in  the  future  as  in  the  past,  run 
their  course  and  perish.  But  great  actions,  great  virtues  and  great 
thoughts,  emanations  and  attributes  of  the  spiritual  life — types  of 
the  immortality  which  is  to  come — shall  live  on  when  all  the  mon- 
uments that  men  contrive  and  fashion  and  build  up  to  perpetuate 
remembrances  of  themselves  shall,  like  them,  have  crumbled  into 
their  primeval  dust.  One  of  the  greatest  poets  of  the  Augustan 
era,  nearly  nineteen  hundred  years  ago,  boasted  that  his  works 
should  live  as  long  as  the  priest  with  the  silent  virgin  should  ascend 
the  capitolium.  Of  the  millions  of  treasure  lavished  upon  the  deco- 
ration of  the  capitol  no  trace  remains;  its  very  site  was  long  dis- 
puted, and  priests  and  virgins,  with  the  knowledge  of  the  mysteries 
they  celebrated,  have  been  buried  for  more  than  a  thousand  years 
in  the  darkest  oblivion.  But  the  immortal  verse,  in  all  its  purity 
and  grace,  still  lives,  and  will  make  the  name  and  genius  of  its 
author  familiar  until  the  records  of  hum-in  thoughts  shall  be  ob- 


DOUGLAS    MONUMENT.  81 

literated  and  lost.  Thus  shall  be  the  name  of  him  whose  memory 
you  are  honoring1  be  as  imperishable  as  the  history  of  the  State  in 
whose  service  he  lived  and  died;  borne  on  his  annals  as  one  who 
was  identified  with  its  progress  and  improvements;  who  illustrated 
the  policy  and  the  social  spirit  of  the  great  West;  who  gained 
strength  and  influence  from  its  support  and  confidence,  and  who 
gloried  in  its  energy  and  its  unconquerable  enterprise.  He  will 
be  remembered  above  all  for  those  heroic  words,  the  last  he  ever 
uttered,  worthy  to  be  graven  on  stone  and  treasured  to  the  end  of 
time  in  all  patriotic  hearts — words  which  come  to  us,  as  we  stand 
around  his  grave,  with  a  solemnity  and  a  pathos  which  no  lan- 
guage can  express.  When  his  wife  bent  over  him  as  his  spirit 
was  departing,  and  asked  him  if  he  had  anything  to  say  to  his 
children;  forgetting  himself,  his  domestic  ties,  everything  precious 
in  life,  from  which  he  was  about  to  be  severed;  thinking  only  of 
his  country  rent  by  civil  strife,  and  overshadowed  by  impenetra- 
ble darkness,  he  replied,  "  Tell  them  to  obey  the  laws,  and  sup- 
port the  Constitution  of  the  Union." 

The  orator  was  frequently  interrupted  by  applause. 

GENERAL  GRANT  SURROUNDED  AND  ENGAGED IN  CONVERSATION.. 

During  the  delivery  of  General  Dix's  oration,  General  Grant 
quietly  left  the  upper  platform  and  took  a  seat  on  the  lower  and 
larger  platform,  where  he  sat  for  a  time  quietly  indulging  in  a 
cigar.  He  was  unattended  by  any  of  his  usual  suite,  but  of  course 
he  could  not  remain  long  unnoticed.  His  admirers  on  this  occa- 
sion, were  such  as  to  completely  exercise  the  General's  proverbial 
reserve.  He  was  at  first  taken  by  surprise,  but  it  is  evident  that 
the  General  can  talk  to  some  purpose  when  he  pleases.  Three 
young  graces,  utter  strangers  to  the  General,  opened  their  batteries 
upon  him,  and,  after  gaining  a  little  ground,  and  engaging  the 
General  in  a  chat,  the  youngest  and  loveliest  of  them,  raised  her- 
self to  the  seat  on  the  General's  left  flank,  while  another  perched 
herself  upon  his  right,  the  third  cutting  off  all  retreat  in  front. 
The  General  met  their  sallies  and  replied  to  them  good  humoredly, 
and  there  is  doubt  but  we  might  have  given  an  account  of  what 
the  General  said  and  how  he  conducted  himself  in  this  emergency, 
but  we  feared  a  too  near  approach  with  book  and  pencil  would 
have  frightened  off  the  spirited  young  ladies,  and  drawn  upon  us 
the  frowns  of  the  General.  The  scene  was,  however,  enjoyed  by 
many,  and  a  number  of  committee  men  who  broke  in  upon  it  and 
carried  off  the  General  to  the  little  embowered  cottage  which  Mr. 
6 


82  HISTORY   OF   THE 

Douglas  in  his  life-time  made  a  temporary  resting  place  when  he 
visited  the  neighborhood,  got  but  little  praise  for  their  intrusion. 


THE  PRESIDENT'S  SPEECH. 


WHEN  General  Dix  had  concluded,  the  President  of  the  United 
States  was  called  for.  He  appeared  at  the  front  of  the  platform 
and  delivered  the  following  brief  address: 

FELLOW  CITIZENS: — I  have  traveled  over  eleven  hundred  miles, 
having  been  invited  to  attend  the  ceremony  of  laying  the  corner- 
stone of  the  monument  to  be  erected,  I  will  say,  to  my  friend,  per- 
sonally and  politically,  that  in  accepting  the  invitation  to  be  pres- 
ent on  this  occasion,  it  was  for  the  purpose  of  bearing  testimony 
on  my  high  respect  for  a  man  who  perished  in  the  public  service, 
and  one  whom  I  respected  and  loved.  (Cheers.)  I  have  no  eulogy 
to  pronounce;  that  has  been  done  better  than  I  could  do  it,  and  it 
will  be  handed  down  and  placed  in  the  possession  of  all  who  took 
an  interest  in  the  history  and  character  of  the  distinguished  indi- 
vidual who  is  now  no  more.  (Applause.)  Some  men  may  wear 
the  civic  wreath  which  the  nation  weaves  for  those  who  serve  their 
country  in  lofty  positions,  or  they  may  be  graced  with  laurels  pre- 
pared for  those  who  defend  her  in  th6  hour  of  peril,  and  their 
names  may  be  engraved  upon  the  imperishable  records  of  national 
glory.  This  column  is  reared  in  memory  of  the  legislator  and 
the  representative  man.  A  consciousness  of  duty  performed  was 
his  remuneration  while  living,  and  his  reward  will  be  the  inscrip- 
tion of  his  name  high  on  the  cenotaph  erected  by  a  grateful  na- 
tion to  commemorate  the  services  of  those  who  lived  and  toiled 
for  the  people  and  the  Union  of  the  States.  (Immense  applause.) 
Fellow  citizens,  I  believe  in  my  heart  that  if  we  could  communi- 
cate with  the  dead,  and  cause  them  to  know  what  was  transpiring 
on  earth — were  it  possible  for  Stephen  A.  Douglas  to  be  disturbed 
from  his  slumbers,  he  would  rise  from  his  grave,  shake  off  the  hab- 
iliments of  the  tomb  and  proclaim,  "  The  Constitution  and  the 
Union,  they  must  be  preserved. "  (Great  applause.) 


DOUGLAS    MONUMENT.  83 

SECRETARY   SEWARD'S    SPEECH. 


SECRETARY  SEWARD  then  came  forward,  in  response  to  repeated 
calls,  and  said: 

Like  the  President,  I  am  not  here  to  make  a  speech.  Less  than 
on  any  other  occasion  could  I  consent  to  speak  without  considera- 
tion. It  would  be  a  disrespect  to  the  great  dead  to  offer  a  hurried 
and  heedless  tribute  to  the  greatness  and  fame  of  Stephen  A. 
Douglas.  (Cheers.)  You  have  just  heard,  as  all  the  world  knows, 
that  Stephen  A.  Douglas  was  concerned  many  years  in  the  great 
affairs  of  this  nation  at  the  capital.  You  are  not  ignorant  that  I 
have  been  concerned  in  the  same  way;  for  the  last  eleven  years  of 
his  life  that  I  was  an  associate  in  the  Senate  of  Stephen  A.  Doug- 
las. During  the  last  six  months  of  that  period  I  was  a  fellow  la- 
borer on  the  same  side,  in  supporting  the  same  great  cause;  and  I 
say  that  cause  was  the  Union  against  the  rebellion.  All  the  pre- 
vious portions  of  that  time  we  were  in  a  party  sense  adversaries. 
It  is  among  the  proudest  of  my  personal  recollections  that,  al- 
though we  were  enemies  as  the  world  understands  it,  political  men 
arrayed  against  each  other  by  partisan  combinations  for  ten  years, 
and  were  political  friends  and  associates  only  for  six  months,  yet, 
notwithstanding  this,  the  widow,  the  children,  the  kindred,  the 
friends  and  the  party  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas  paid  me  the  extraor- 
dinary compliment  of  asking  me  to  be  the  orator  on  the  occasion 
for  which  we  have  assembled.  It  proved  this,  namely,  that  Stephen 
A.  Douglas  was  a  great  and  generous  man.  Had  he  not  been,  he 
could  not  have  gone  through  ten  years  of  opposition  to  me  without 
leaving  in  my  heart  a  pang  or  wound.  It  proved  that  I  knew  all 
the  while  that  he  was  a  patriot,  and  that  he  thought  me  to  be  one 
also.  When  they,  broken  down  with  grief  for  his  loss — struck 
down  as  he  was  on  the  ramparts  of  his  country's  defence — came  to 
me  and  begged  to  commit  to  me  the  care  of  his  great  name  and 
memory,  I  was  unable  to  accept  the  precious  trust.  I  am  glad  now 
that  I  declined,  because  I  rejoice  that  the  task  of  his  eulogist  has 
been  performed  by  one  who  throughout  his  whole  life  was  united 
to  him  in  the  bonds  of  political  as  well  as  personal  friendship,  and 
who  therefore  could  more  justly  appreciate  his  great  merits,  and 
who,  having  sympathized  with  him  so  deeply  and  so  long,  knew  how 
his  fame  ought  to  be  presented  for  the  emulation  of  his  country- 
men. I  am  sure  the  oration  just  delivered  will  live  in  history  and 


84  HISTORY    OF   THE 

the  affections  of  mankind  long  after  you  and  I  shall  have  perished, 
and  even  after  this  corner-stone  shall  be  crumbled  into  dust.  And 
what,  fellow  citizens,  made  a  whole  nation  admire  him  during  the 
last  eventful  years  of  his  life?  What  is  it  that  has  made  us  unan- 
imous in  the  homage  now  paid  his  memory?  It  was  because,  in 
the  most  fearful  crisis  that  ever  overtook  our  country,  he  rushed 
forward  to  the  country's  defense,  and  gave  up  his  life  in  the  effort 
to  maintain  and  save  the  Union  of  these  States  (applause),  and 
through  it  to  preserve  to  posterity  the  blessings  which,  by  the  will 
of  Providence,  it  was  designed  to  confer.  It  shows  one  great  and 
important  truth  from  which  men  in  every  age  should  take  encour- 
agement. It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  the  greatest  merit  on  earth  is 
to  found  an  empire  or  state — there  is  a  great  deal  more  merit  in 
preserving  it.  The  study  I  have  been  obliged  to  make  of  the  af- 
fairs of  nations  has  satisfied  me  that  he  who  saves  a  falling  state 
is  greater  than  he  who  founds  a  state.  (Great  applause.)  There- 
fore, I  think  that  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  with  Abraham  Lincoln,  will 
live  in  the  memory  and  homage  of  mankind  equally  with  the 
Washingtons  and  Hamiltons  of  the  revolutionary  age.  For  my- 
self, I  could  not  ask  higher  commendation  to  the  favor  of  mankind 
in  future  ages  than  this — when  they  shall  mark  and  read  the  trials 
of  this  our  beloved  country  under  the  administrations  of  Abraham 
Lincoln  and  Andrew  Johnson — that  they  may  find  that  with  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  and  Stephen  A.  Douglas  I  was  in  true  association, 
and  with  Ulysses  S.  Grant  and  David  G.  Farragut,  and  with  all 
the  great  heroes  and  all  the  great  statesmen  who  have  given  to  the 
American  people  a  new  lease  of  life — a  life  that  I  feel  able  to  defy 
faction,  sedition  and  powerful  enemies  to  destroy,  either  now  or 
hereafter,  for  evermore. 

Tremendous  cheers  greeted  the  utterance  of  these  sentences. 

GENERAL   GRANT'S  RECEPTION. 

General  Grant  was  next  introduced  and  received  the  most  tre- 
mendous greeting,  as  he  has  through  all  the  places  we  have  passed. 
Admiral  Farragut  was,  as  usual,  warmly  greeted.  The  other  dis- 
tinguished excursionists  were  introduced  and  applauded. 

VISITING  THE  OPERA  HOUSE. 

The  excursionists,  with  the  exception  of  the  President,  visited 
the  opera  house  to-night,  and  were  escorted  thither  by  the  commit- 
tee of  reception.  They  were  applauded  by  the  audience  as  they  en- 
tered. During  the  evening,  General  Grant  was  cheered,  when  he 


DOUGLAS    MOXrMENT.  So 

rose  and  said  they  could  get  nothing  from  him  as  agreeable  as  they 
got  from  the  stage.  Admiral  Farragut  responded  to  the  cheers 
for  him  by  saying  that  he  and  Gen.  Grant  had  made  a  bargain  to 
speak  three  minutes  and  a  half,  but  as  General  Grant  had  engrossed 
nearly  all  the  time  there  was  nothing  left  for  him  to  say.  This 
produced  much  laughter. 

Secretary  Seward,  in  return  for  a  similar  comDliment,  rose  and 
merely  bowed  his  thanks;  Secretary  Welles  and  several  army  offi- 
cers, following  his  example  under  like  circumstances. 

INJURIES  RECEIVED  BY  THE  PARTY. 

Admiral  Farragut  has  seriously  injured  his  hands  while  getting 
in  and  out  of  the  carriage;  one  is  bandaged.  General  McCullum 
has  injured  a  foot,  and  several  others  of  the  party  were  more  or 
less  injured  by  jams  in  crowds. 

The  gross  receipts  of  the  Douglas  Monument  Association,  on 
the  occasion  of  laying  the  corner-stone,  were  as  follows: 

For  seats $3,581.00 

For  committee  badges 114.00 

For  ope^a  house  concert  (about) 1,000.00 

For  medals,  etc., 454.20 

For  photographs,  etc.,  at  registry 20.35 

From  four  contribution  boxes  in  Tremont,  Sherman  and 
Briggs  Houses,  and  at  the  Committee  Rooms,  from  Sep- 
tember 5  to  September  9,  inclusive 1.31 

At  registry  on  the  grounds 2.55 

Amount  raised  by  the  finance  committee  prior  to  the  6th  in- 
stant, and  as  reported  at  last  meeting 6,500.00 


Total $11,673.41          / 

Is 

There  is  no  report  from  the  gentlemen  having  charge  of  refresh- 
ment stands.  The  supposition  is  that  nothing  in  that  direction  has 
been  made.  As  soon  as  the  bills  for  expenses  incurred  have  been 
rendered,  and  audited  by  the  auditing  committee,  the  public  will 
be  duly  informed  of  the  amount. 

L.  W.  VOLK,  Secretary. 

CHICAGO,  September  11,  1866. 


[From  the  Chicago  Evening  Journal.] 

A  PLEASANT  AFFAIR. — During  the  progress  of  the  ceremonies 
on  the  occasion  of  the  laying  of  the  corner  stone  of  the  Douglas 
Monument,  the  cottage  of  L.  W.  Volk,  Esq.,  situated  near  the 
monument  grounds,  was  visited  by  many  of  the  Presidential  party, 
the  Committee  of  Arrangements,  and  others,  who  enjoyed  the  re- 


86  HISTORY    OF   THE 

freshments  so  bountifully  furnished  by  the  host  and  hostess. 
Among  the  distinguished  guests  present  were  Generals  Grant, 
Meade,  Dix,  Custer,  Rousseau,  Admiral  Farragut,  Postmaster  Gen- 
eral Randall,  General  Rawlins,  General  Steadman,  Admiral  Rad- 
ford  and  General  McCullum.  After  the-prolonged  march  of  four 
miles,  occupying  nearly  three  hours,  the  refreshments  thus  provided 
were  very  acceptable  to  the  party.  A  number  of  toasts  were  pro- 
posed and  responded  to  by  the  gentleman  present.  The  tables 
w  ere  loaded  wth  good  things,  and  excellent  taste  was  displayed 
by  Mrs.  Volk  in  all  the  arrangements. 


The  amount  of  $6,500.00,  reported  as  having  been  raised  by 
the  finance  committee  of  the  committee  of  arrangements  for 
the  purpose  of  defraying  the  expenses,  was  expended  by  that 
committee,  and  the  association  proper  was  drawn  upon  for 
$1,304.69  additional,  to  make  up  the  deficit. 

On  June  3d,  1868,  the  anniversary  of  Mr.  Douglas'  death, 
liis  remains  were  taken  from  the  ground  and  deposited  in  a 
sarcophagus,  the  marble  of  which  came  from  his  native  county, 
Rutland,  Vermont,  and  was  placed  in  the  center  of  the  tomb. 
While  being  conveyed  by  the  trustees  from  the  grave,  the  Ger- 
mania  Maennerchor  sang  a  beautiful  hymn.  An  impressive 
prayer  was  made  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Haven,  and  for  a  day  or  two 
the  public  was  allowed  to  view  the  face  of  the  deceased  senator 
through  the  glass  cover  of  the  casket.  It  appeared  quite  nat- 
ural, being  well  preserved  by  the  embalment,  and  presenting 
no  appearance  of  decomposition.  The  students  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Chicago  acted  as  a  guard  of  honor  around  the  casket, 
some  time  before  it  was  carried  to  the  tomb. 

In  January  following,  a  memorial  was  drafted  by  the  presi- 
dent of  the  association,  Walter  B.  Scales,  with  a  statement  of 
its  condition,  asking  for  $50,000  to  complete  the  monument, 
and  was  forwarded  to  the  legislature. 

The  amount  asked  for  was  reduced  to  $25,000,  and  thus 
amended  the  bill  passed  the  House  of  Representatives.  But 


DOULGAS   MONUMENT.  87 

from  some  negligence  it  was  not  presented  to  the  Senate  before 
the  adjournment,  and  therefore  wentjby  default. 


MEETING  OF  THE  BOAKD  OF  TKUSTEES. 


PAKLOR  No.  10,  SHERMAN  HOUSE, 
WEDNESDAY,  7th  December,  1870. 

IN  response  to  a  call  from  President  "W.  B.  Scates,  a  meet- 
ing of  the  Board  of  Trustees  was  held  at  3  o  'clock  this  P.  M. 

Present  Messrs.  Scates,  Fuller,  Volk,  Goudy,  Stearns,  Bur- 
roughs, "Wilson  and  Chandler:  Mr.  Scates  occupying  the 
chair. 

It  having  been  stated  that  the  chief  object  of  the  meeting 
was  to  consider  and  determine  upon  the  propriety  of  remov- 
ing the  monument  to  the  grounds  of  the  University  of  Chicago, 
and  of  using  the  value  of  the  present,  site  towards  completing 
it,  Mr.  S.  W.  Fuller,  after  some  preliminary  discussion,  offered 
the  following  resolution,  which  was  upon  consideration  unani- 
mously adopted. 

"  Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  the  directors  of  the  Douglas  Monument 
Association,  if  the  widow  and  children  of  the  late  Stephen  A.  Douglas  shall 
first  consent  thereto,  it  is  best  and  expedient  for  this  association  to  make  appli- 
cation to  the  next  legislature  of  the  State  of  Illinois  for  leave  to  remove  the 
remains  of  the  late  Judge  Douglas  from  their  present  resting  place,  together 
with  the  monument  now  erected  over  them,  to  some  suitable  place  within  the 
grounds  of  the  University  near  by,  to  be  hereafter  selected  and  agreed  upon 
between  this  association  and  the  trustees  of  said  University,  and  for  the  sale  of 
the  land  now  belonging  to  the  State  of  Illinois  and  occupied  by  this  association 
for  its  corporate  purposes,  and  the  application  of  the  proceeds  of  such  sale,  or 
as  much  as  may  be  necessary  to  the  cost  of  completing  the  monument  according 
to  the  original  design,  and  to  apply  the  balance  of  the  proceeds,  if  any,  to- 
wards the  maintenance  and  preservation  of  the  monument,  in  such  manner  as 
shall  be  agreed  upon  by  and  between  the  State  of  Illinois,  the  trustees  of  the 
University  and  this  association." 

Letters  having  been  received  by  the  chairman  from  Messrs. 
Turner  and  Treat,  who  could  not  be  present  at  this  meeting, 
were  read,  favoring  the  object  of  this  resolution ;  and  as  pre- 
liminary to  the  consummation  of  its  object,  Messrs.  Burroughs, 


88  111STOSY    OF    TUB 

Scates  and  Gage  were,  upon  motion,  appointed  a  committee  to 
confer  with  and  obtain  the  consent  of  the  widow  and  children 
of  the  late  Judge  Douglas. 

Upon  motion  of  Dr.  Burroughs,  Mr.  C.  Beckwith  was  also 
added  to  this  committee,  and  another  committee,  consisting  of 

7  O 

Messrs.  Fuller  and  Goudy,  was  also,  on  motion  to  that  effect, 
appointed  to  memorialize  the  legislature,  and  to  prepare  such 
act  or  acts  as  may  be  necessary  for  its  action. 

The  secretary,  Mr.  L.  "W.  Volk,  then  stated  that  he  was  about 
to  start  for  Europe,  and  would  probably  be  gone  two  years,  and 
tendered  his  resignation  as  secretary  and  trustee  of  the  associ- 
ation, with  the  request  that  he  be  relieved  from  further  duty, 
and  that  a  committee  be  appointed  to  examine  and  audit  and 
report  upon  his  accounts. 

Whereupon  the  Board  declined  to  accept  his  resignation  as 
trustee,  but,  on  motion  of  Dr.  Burroughs,  accepted  his  resigna- 
tion as  secretary,  and  on  further  motion,  Messrs.  D.  A.  Gage 
and  John  B.  Turner  were  appointed  to  adjust  and  report  upon 
his  accounts. 

On  motion,  the  board  then  proceeded  to  fill  the  vacancy  oc- 
casioned by  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Volk,  which  resulted  in  the 
election  of  Joseph  B.  Chandler  as  secretary. 

Mr.  S.  W.  Fuller  then  submitted  the  following  resolution, 
which  was  unanimously  adopted: 

Resolved,  That  we  regret  the  intended  journey  of  Mr.  L.  W.  Volk,  to  Europe, 
makes  it  necessary  in  his  opinion  for  him  to  resign  the  office  of  secretary  of 
this  Association ;  and  in  accepting  his  resignation,  we  tender  him  our  tli;  nks 
for  the  unremitting  zeal,  energy  and  fidelity  with  which  he  has  discharged  i.,e 
duties  of  his  office  and  labored  to  promote  the  objects  and  interests  of  the  Asso- 
ciation. 

A  vacancy  existing  in  the  Board,  caused  by  the  death  of 
Francis  C.  Sherman,  a  ballot  was  taken,  resulting  in  the  elec- 
tion of  W.  F.  Coolbaugh  to  fill  the  unexpired  term  of  Mr. 
Sherman,  ending  January  30th,  1872. 

No  further  business  requiring  attention,  the  board,  on  mo- 
tion, adjourned  till  2  p.  M.  of  Saturday,  the  24th  inst, 

Attest:        Jos.  B.  CHANDLER,  Secretary. 


DOUGLAS    MONUMENT.  80 

The  following  is  Mrs.  Williams'  (formerly  Mrs.  Douglas) 
reply  to  the  Committee  appointed  at  the  foregoing  meeting: 

To  MESSRS.   WALTER  B.  SCATES  AND  OTHERS: 

Gentlemen:  In  reply  to  your  letter  dated  Dec.  3,  1870,  which 
I  have  this  day  (March  5,  1871)  received  through  the  Dead-Letter 
Office,  I  have  the  honor  to  say  that  I  heartily  agree  with  your  Com- 
mittee, and  ths  Members  of  the  Monument  Association,  in  the  pro- 
priety of  removing  the  monument  to  theUniversity  grounds.  It  is 
my  most  earnest  and  heartfelt  wish  that  it  should  be  as  speedily 
completed  as  possible,  and  I  hope  the  legislature  will  consent  to 
the  sale  of  the  ground  and  the  appropriation  of  the  funds  to  the 
immediate  completion  of  the  monument.  My  step-sons,  Robert 
and  Stephen,  are  of  the  same  mind. 

Your  Committee's  letter  reached  me  without  stamp,  and  simply 
addressed  to  Mrs.  A.  Williams,  only  after  being  opened  at  the 
Dead-Letter  Office,  after  the  lapse  of  three  months.  This  will,  I 
hope,  excuse  my  apparent  negligence  of  so  important  a  subject. 
With  respects,  gentlemen,  I  am  very  truly  yours. 

ADELE  WILLIAMS. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  March  5,  1871. 

~No  definite  action  was  taken  by  the  trustees  for  the  removal 

J 
of  the  monument  till  1875,  and  meanwhile,  in  1873,  another 

memorial  to  the  legislature,  asking  for  $50,000  to  complete  the 
monument  where  begun,  was  presented  by  a  member  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  from  Chicago,  Mr.  W.  EL  Condon, 
who  earnestly  and  efficiently  labored  for  its  passage,  and  was 
ably  assisted  by  his  colleagues  Judge  Bradwell,  General  Sher- 
man and  others;  and  just  before  the  recess  of  the  legislature 
the  bill  passed  the  House,  with  two  votes  to  spare. 

The  following  is  the  financial  statement,  as  submitted  to  the. 
legislature  with  the  last  memorial,  dating  from  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  society  to  January  1, 1871,  and  signed  by  the  pres- 
ident and  treasurer: 

Amount  by  subscriptions  in  sums  from  $500  to  $20 $  2,856.40 

From  sales  of  photographs  and  engravings  of  Douglas  and  the  mon- 
ument, diplomas  of  membership,  and  small  contributions 8,137.32 

Sale  of  seats  at  laying  of  corner-stone 3,581.00 

Sale  of  concert  tickets,  opera-house,  on  same  occasion 1,006.08 

Sale  of  donated  real  estate  (2  lots,  each  120x50  feet 6,000.00 


Total 121,580.80 


90  HISTORY    OF   THE 

AMOUNTS    PAID  OUT: 

Building  foundations  and  first  section  of  monument,  marble  sar- 
cophagus, iron  doors,  fencing  and  grading $12,275.00 

Expenses  laying  corner-stone,  September  6,  1866 1,304.69 

Photographs,  engravings,  diplomas  and  medals 2,227.08 

Stationery  and  postage 57.00 

Agents'  commissions 506.68 

Taxes  on  real  estate 157.15 

Sidewalk  and  fence  in  front  of  monument  grounds 351.00 

Design  of  Douglas  monument 75.00 

Lithographing  monument 314.00 

Printing  diplomas,  pamphlets,  circulars,  and  office  furniture 962.32 

Secretary's  services,  eight  years,  including  office  rent,  furnished  by 

him 3,321.78 

Balance  in  treasurer's  hands 29.10 


Total 121,580.80 

Several  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  photographs,  engravings, 
diplomas,  steel-plates  of  diplomas,  medals,  and  office  furniture 
belonging  to  the  association,  were  destroyed  in  the  great  fire, 
but  its  important  books  and  papers  escaped. 

At  the  adjourned  session  held  the  following  winter  of  1874, 
the  House  bill  came  up  in  its  order  m  the  Senate,  but  was  de- 
feated. 

DISPATCH  PROM  ME.  CONDON. 

SPRINGFIELD,  111.  Apl.  24,  1873. 
To  LEONARD  W.  VOLK,  Chicago: 

We  have  passed  the  bill  only  two  votes  to  spare. 

(Signed.)  WM.  H.  CONDON. 


In  1875  the  bill  for  removal  of  the  monument  was  presented 
in  the  House  of  Representatives  by  authority  of  the  Trustees. 

A  BILL 

FOR  AN  ACT   ENTITLED    "  AN   ACT  TO    REMOVE    AND    COMPLETE   THE 
DOUGLAS  MONUMENT."       INTRODUCED  BY  MR.  HISE. 

SECTION  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  People  of  the  State  of  Illinois, 
represented  in  the  General  Assembly.  That  the  "  Douglas  Monu- 
ment Association"  is  hereby  authorized  and  empowered  to  remove 
the  "  Douglas  Monument,"  from  the  grounds  upon  which  the  same 
now  stands,  to  such  locality  in  the  grounds  of  the  University  of 
Chicago  as  may  be  agreed  upon  between  the  board  of  trustees  of 
the  said  university  and  the  board  of  directors  of  the  "Douglas 


DOUGLAS   MONUMENT.  91 

Monument  Association."  And  power  and  authority  is  hereby  given 
to  the  said  board  of  trustees  of  the  said  University  and  the  said 
board  of  directors  of  the  "  Douglas  Monument  Association"  to 
agree  upon  such  re-location  of  £aid  monument  within  said  grounds 
of  the  said  University  of  Chicago,  to  preserve  the  ground  upon 
which  said  monument  shall  be  so  re-built  for  the  use  of  the  same, 
and  to  fix  and  agree  upon  the  terms  for  the  maintenance,  repair 
and  custody  of  said  monument  and  grounds. 

§  2.  Said  board  of  directors  of  the  "  Douglas  Monument  Asso- 
ciation "  are  hereby  authorized  and  empowered  to  make  sale  or 
sales  of  all  that  lot,  piece  or  parcel  of  land,  situate  in  the  county 
of  Cook  and  State  of  Illinois,  whereon  the  Douglas  Monument 
now  stands,  and  known  and  described  as  follows,  viz:  lot  one  (1), 
in  the  lower  tier  of  Oakenwald  subdivision,  fronting  on  Wood- 
land Park  and  Douglas  Place,  of  a  part  of  the  south  half  of  the 
north-east  quarter  of  section  thirty-four,  in  township  thirty-nine 
north,  range  fourteen  east  of  the  third  principal  meridian,  in  the 
city  of  Chicago,  together  with  the  appurtenances  thereunto  be- 
longing, for  such  price  and  upon  such  terms  as  they  may  deem 
most  advantageous;  and  the  Governor  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  for 
the  time  being,  be  and  he  is  hereby  authorized  and  empowered  to 
execute  all  necessary  deeds  of  conveyance  of  said  premises  to 
carry  into  effect  any  sale  or  sales  made  by  said  board  of  directors, 
and  any  and  all  preliminary  contracts  to  effectuate  any  sales  that 
may  be  made  by  the  said  board  of  directors  on  credit:  Provided, 
that  said  board  of  directors  shall  be  entitled  to  no  compensation 
for  services  rendered  under  the  provisions  of  this  act;  and  pro- 
vided further^  that  no  sale  shall  be  made  by  said  directors  until  the 
written  consent  of  Mrs.  Adele  Williams,  formerly  Mrs.  Senator 
Douglas,  shall  have  first  been  obtained. 

3d.  Said  board  of  directors  of  the  Douglas  Monument  Associ- 
ation is  hereby  authorized  and  empowered  to  remove  the  said 
Douglas  monument  from  the  grounds  whereon  it  now  stands,  and 
to  re-erect  and  finish,  and  complete  the  same  according  to  the 
plans  and  specifications  adopted  by  the  Douglas  Monument  Asso- 
ciation, or  such  others  as  may  be  adopted,  on  such  location  as  may 
be  selected,  as  hereinbefore  provided;  and  for  that  purpose  they  are 
hereby  authorized  and  empowered  to  expend  the  proceeds  of  the 
sale  of  the  grounds  whereon  said  monument  now  stands,  or  so 
much  thereof  as  may  be  necessary,  for  the  completion  of  said  mon- 
ument according  to  said  plans  and  specifications,  and  the  protec- 
tion and  preservation  of  the  ground  upon  which  it  may  be  erected. 


92  HISTORY    OF   THE 

4th.  That  if  there  shall  be  any  balance  left  of  the  proceeds  re- 
sulting from  the  sale  of  said  lands  after  the  completion  of  said 
monument,  such  balance  shall  be  invested  in  United  States  bonds, 
or  bonds  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  the  income  to  be  derived 
therefrom,  shall  be  applied  toward  the  preservation  and  protec- 
tion of  said  monument,  and  of  the  grounds  immediately  adjacent 
thereto. 


About  the  same  time  the  following  bill  for  an  appropria- 
tion to  complete  the  monument  where  begun',  was  introduced 
in  the  Senate  by  Mr.  Hodges. 

A  BILL 

FOB    AN  ACT  TO    APPROPRIATE    FIFTY  THOUSAND   DOLLARS    TO    COM- 
PLETE THE  DOUGLAS  MONUMENT  AT  CHICAGO. 

SECTION  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  people  of  the  State  of  Illinois, 
represented  in  the  General  Assembly,  that  Walter  B.  Scates,  Jo- 
seph B.  Chandler,  Joshua  L.  Marsh,  J.  H.  McVicker,  Melville  W. 
Fuller  and  Potter  Palmer,  all  of  the  city  of  Chicago,  and  Benja- 
min F.  Fridley,  of  Kane  county,  Illinois,  be  and  they  are  hereby 
constituted  commissioners  of  the  Douglas  Monument  at  Chicago, 
and  are  empowered  to  receive  proposals  and  contract  for  the  com- 
pletion of  the  Douglas  Monument:  Provided,  that  said  commis- 
sioners shall  not  obligate  the  State  of  Illinois  to  exceed  the  sum 
named  in  section  three  of  this  act. 

SEC.  2.  Said  commissioners  shall  receive  no  compensation  for 
their  services. 

SEC.  3.  For  the  purpose  of  defraying  the  cost  of  the  comple- 
tion of  said  monument,  the  sum  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  is  hereby 
appropriated  out  of  the  State  treasury,  and  the  auditor  of  public 
accounts  is  hereby  authorized  to  draw  his  warrant  on  the  State 
treasurer  for  said  amount,  out  of  money  not  otherwise  appropria- 
ted, upon  the  certificate  of  a  majority  of  the  said  commissioners, 
from  time  to  time,  as  may  be  necessary,  during  the  progress  of  the 
work:  Provided,  no  money  shall  be  drawn  under  the  provisions  of 
this  act  prior  to  the  first  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1870,  which  is  made 
payable  out  of  revenue  from  the  assessments  for  the  year  A.  D. 
1875. 

AMENDMENT. 

Amend  section  1,  after  the  words  "  of  Kane  county,  Illinois,"  by 


DOUGLAS  MONUMENT.  93 

inserting  the  names  of  "  William  A.  Richardson,  of  Adams  coun- 
ty, Illinois,  and  Gustavus  Koerner,  of  St.  Clair  county,  Illinois." 

Thereupon,  Mr.  Hise  did  not  press  the  bill  for  removal,  in 
the  House,  and  after  the  passage  of  the  Senate  bill  appropriat- 
ing $50,000,  he,  with  other  members,  labored  to  pass  it  in  the 
House.  But  on  the  final  vote  the  bill  failed  to  pass,  for  the 
want  of  a  constitutional  majority — lacking  some  five  votes. 


[From  the  Illinois  State  Register.] 

It  is  a  pity  the  House  refused  to  concur  in  the  Senate's  bill,  ap- 
propriating $50,000  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  a  monument  to  the 
memory  of  the  great  Douglas.  This  it  did  this  morning.  Douglas' 
remains  would  not  to-day  be  in  Illinois  soil,  were  it  not  for  the 
fact  that  prominent  citizens  of  the  State,  regardless  of  party, 
begged  his  widow  to  allow  them  to  be  interred  here,  at  the  time 
of  his  death.  The  House  has  struck  an  economical  vein,  but  is 
very  inconsistent.  To-day,  within  one  hour's  time  it  refused  to 
pay  a  debt  of  honor  to  the  memory  of  a  man  who  has  done  more 
for  the  state  thin  any  other  man  that  ever  belonged  to  Illinois,  on 
the  score  of  its  "costing  too  much,"  and  immediately,  by  a  vote, 
continued  the  useless  fraud-protecting  and  expensive  election  reg- 
istry system,  that  costs  the  tax-payers  of  Illinois  not  less  than 
two  hundred  thousand  dollars  annually!  Next  in  order  will  be 
"Copperas  creek,"  an  unconstitutional  taking  of  the  people's 
money;  and  if  our  vote  would  pass  this  appropriation  it  would 
never  be  made. 

At  the  next  legislature,  two  years  later,  the  same  appropri- 
ation bill,  except  as  to  names  of  commissioners,  was  introduced 
in  the  house  by  Mr.  Jos.  E.  Smith,  member  from  Chicago,  who 
worked  untiringly  for  the  measure,  and  had  the  satisfaction  of 
seeing  the  following  bill  pass  both  houses  and  become  a  law. 

A  BILL 

FOR  AN  ACT   TO   APPROPRIATE   FIFTY   THOUSAND   DOLLARS   TO    COM- 
PLETE THE  DOUGLAS  MONUMENT  AT  CHICAGO. 

SECTION  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  people  of  the  State  of  Illinois, 
represented  in  the  General  Assembly,  that  John  D.  Caton,  Thomas 


94  HISTORY    OF    THE 

Drummond,  Lyman  Trutnbull,  Melville  W.  Fuller,  Robert  T.  Lin- 
coln and  Potter  Palmer,  all  of  the  city  of  Chicago,  county  of  Cook, 
Benjamin  F.  Fidley,  of  Kane  county,  Gustavus  Koerner,  of  St. 
Clair  county,  and  Ralph  Plumb,  of  LaSalle  county,  Illinois,  be  and 
they  are  hereby  constituted  commissioners  of  the  Douglas  Monu- 
ment at  Chicago,  and  are  authorized  and  empowered  to  receive 
proposals  and  contract  for  the  completion  of  the  Douglas  monu- 
ment :  provided,  that  said  commissioners  shall  not  obligate  the 
State  of  Illinois  to  exceed  the  sum  named  in  section  three  of  this 
act. 

SEC.  2.  Said  commissioners  shall  receive  no  compensation  for 
their  services. 

SEC.  3.  For  the  purpose  of  defraying  the  cost  of  the  comple- 
tion of  said  monument,  the  sum  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  is  hereby 
appropriated  out  of  the  State  treasury,  and  the  auditor  of  public 
accounts  is  hereby  authorized  to  draw  his  warrant  on  the  State 
treasury  for  said  amount,  out  of  the  money  not  otherwise  appro- 
priated, upon  the  certificate  of  a  majority  of  the  said  commission- 
ers, from  time  to  time  during  the  progress  of  the  work:  Provided, 
no  money  shall  be  drawn  under  the  provisions  of  this  act  prior  to 
the  first  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1877,  which  is  made  payable  out  of 
revenue  from  the  assessments  for  the  year  1876. 


[From  the  Chicago  Times,  March  24, 1877.] 

THE  ILLINOIS  HOUSE  PASSES  THE  APPROPRIATION 
FOR  THE  DOUGLAS  MONUMENT. 


IN  the  house  this  morning,  the  special  order  being  the  discussion 
of  the  bill  appropriating  $50,000  for  the  completion  of  the  Douglas 
Monument,  Mr.  Smith,  who  introduced  the  measure,  made  a  strong 
speech  in  its  favor.  He  said  that  justice  and  right  demanded  the 
passage  of  this  bill.  From  time  immemorial  monuments  had  been 
erected  by  grateful  people  to  their  great  and  good  men.  The 
pyramids  of  Egypt  were  but  tombs  of  kings,  and  the  mausoleum 
but  a  monument  from  a  widowed  queen  to  her  departed  husband. 
But  if  monuments  were  erected  to  those  who  had  contributed  to 
the  moral  or  historical  wealth  of  a  nation,  how  much  more  should 
they  be  erected  to  those  who,  in  addition,  had  contributed  to  the 
material  wealth  of  the  State.  The  persistent  efforts  of  Judge 


DOUGLAS  MONUMENT.  95 

Douglas  from  the  time  he  entered  Congress  in  1843  till  he  succeed- 
ed in  passing  the  law,  were  given  to  obtaining  from  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  the  land-grant  to  the  Illinois  Central  railroad. 
This  grant  enabled  the  company  to  build  that  road  which  opened 
up  the  heart  of  the  state.  It  has  poured  into  the  coffers  of  this 
state  iii  cash  the  the  sum  of  nearly  seven  millions  of  dollars.  Year 
by  year  hereafter  it  will  continue  to  yield  to  the  treasury  its  mil- 
lions. But  these  cash  payments  represent  not  a  tithe  of  the  ma- 
terial wealth  which  has  come  to  the  state  through  this  great  enter- 
prise. The  cities  and  towns  along  its  line  have  become  populous 
and  wealthy,  and  lands  which  could  not  be  sold  for  anything,  now 
yield  from  $20  to  $30  an  acre  in  taxes. 

It  was  Douglas'  wish  that  he  be  buried  where  he  now  lies.  The 
state  demanded  it,  and  purchased  the  land  where  his  unfinished 
monument  now  stands.  Attempts  are  being  made  to  remove  it, 
but  it  should  be  finished  where  it  now  stands.  The  state  bought 
the  land  that  it  might  have  the  power  to  prevent  what  is  now  at- 
tempted. It  cannot  be  said  that  economy  demands  its  postpone- 
ment, for  the  state  has  now  nearly  two  millions  balance  in  its  treas- 
ury. The  state  can  well  afford  to  pay  less  than  one  mill  on  a  dol- 
lar of  what  Douglas  contributed  to  the  coffers  of  the  state. 

Mr.  Smith  closed  with  a  tribute  to  the  character  of  Douglas, 
speaking  of  him  as  a  representative  man  of  the  genius  and  char- 
acter of  the  American  people. 

Mr.  Herron  argued  that  there  could  not  be  any  objection  to  the 
passage  of  this  bill,  except  on  the  question  of  economy.  There 
have  been  millions  expended  in  the  construction  of  public  insti- 
tutions, which  have  been  as  bread  cast  upon  the  water.  Civili- 
zation is  more  exacting  now  than  it  was  a  century  ago.  The  old 
church  was  the  monument  of  Christianity  a  hundred  years  ago,  but 
to-day  we  do  not  hear  the  vials  of  wrath  thundered  from  the  pulpit. 
We  hear  that  God  and  Christianity  are  realities.  Monuments  are 
erected  to  show  the  progress  the  human  family  are  making  in 
civilization.  If  this  be  true,  it  is  meet  that  we  should  preserve 
the  memory  of  him  who  has  stamped  his  name  as  among  the  great 
of  earth.  Mr.  Herron  continued  with  a  history  of  Douglas'  record 
in  this  state,  especially  during  the  critical  period  when  the  state 
of  South  Carolina  fired  on  the  Star  of  the  West  and  arrayed  her- 
self against  the  Federal  Government. 

Mr.  Connelly — Did  he  sever  his  relations  with  the  democratic 
party  in  the  stand  he  then  took? 

Mr.  Herron  :  He  did  not;  but  he  told  them  there  was  no  time  to 


96  IIISTOKY  OF  THE 

discuss  party  affiliations;  the  country  was  in  danger,  and  the  first 
duty  of  democrats  was  to  rush  into  and  close  up  the  chasm;  after 
that  they  could  unite  for  political  warfare.  After  the  children  of 
Israel  crossed  the  Jordan,  Joshua  commanded  each  of  the  twelve 
tribes  to  take  a  stone  and  build  therefrom  a  monument.  He  said 
to  his  people:  "When  your  children  shall  ask  their  fathers,  in  time 
to  come,  '  What  mean  these  stones?'  then  you  shall  let  your  chil- 
dren know,  saying  Israel  came  over  this  Jordan  on  dry  land." 
When  your  children  visit  the  tomb  of  Douglas,  they  will  ask  you, 
"  What  means  this  monument?"  You  shall  tell  them  it  is  the 
earthly  home  of  him  who  forgot  position  for  patriotism,  and  who 
died,  as  he  lived,  for  his  country. 

Mr.  Merritt  wished  to  say  a  few  words.  He  was  not  much  in 
favor  of  stone  monuments,  and  was  not  enthusiastically  in  favor 
of  the  deceased  Stephen.  Douglas  predicted  that  war  was  disun- 
ion and  the  destruction  of  constitutional  liberty,  and  his  predic- 
tions had  been  verified.  In  the  face  of  his  opinions  he  had  joined 
with  Lincoln  in  urging  war,  and  with  his  skin  full  of  brandy  had 
pranced  about  in  the  vain  idea  that  he  was  a  second  Napoleon. 
The  speaker  was  opposed  to  the  appropriation,  on  the  grounds  that 
enough  money  had  already  been  subscribed  for  the  purpose  con- 
templated, expended  and  not  been  accounted  for,  and  that  his  rep- 
utation was  a  part  of  history,  more  enduring  than  stone. 

Morris,  of  Hardin,  followed  in  a  brief  speech  supporting  the  ob- 
ject of  the  bill,  and  was  succeded  by  Morrison,  of  Christian,  who 
denied  in  emphatic  language  that  Merritt's  speech  represented  the 
sentiment  of  the  democratic  party  or  the  sentiment  of  a  constitu- 
ency Merritt  had  left  in  Marion.  What  has  Douglas  done?  He 
united  in  contributing  to  the  country's  salvation  at  a  time  when 
such  effort  was  vital.  The  gentleman  from  Marion  had  said  if  he 
had  died  before  the  delivery  of  his  war  speeches,  he  would  have 
left  a  reputation  more  lasting  than  brass.  True,  but  to-day  there 
would  have  been  no  country  in  which  to  enjoy  constitution;:  1 
liberty. 

Mr.  James  was  in  favor  of  commemorating  the  excellence  of 
great  men,  but  was  apprehensive  that  the  means  suggested  were 
illegal,  and  the  end  to  be  attained  unnecessary.  He  did  not  need 
a  monument,  and  he  didn't  think  it  was  right  to  take  money  from 
the  public  treasury  for  the  purposes  suggested,  and  for  those  rea- 
sons he  should  vote  against  the  measure.  If,  however,  it  was  in- 
dispensable that  his  memory  should  be  perpetuated,  let  it  be  done 
by  voluntary  contributions. 


DOUGLAS  MONUMENT.  97 

Rowett  moved  the  previous  question,  but  at  the  solicitation  of 
many  on  the  republican  side  of  the  house,  who  were  solicitous  lest 
there  piece  wouldn't  be  spoken,  he  withdrew  the  motion,  and 
Dunne,  of  Cook,  addressed  the  House  in  support  of  the  bill.  He 
said  a  great  state  should  do  honor  to  its  illustrious  dead.  There- 
fore, Illinois  should  do  honor  to  the  memory  of  Douglas,  and  in  no 
more  fitting  way  can  she  do  this  than  by  erecting  a  suitable  mon- 
ument over  his  remains.  Let  no  paltry  consideration  of  expense 
defer  this  merited  tribute  any  longer.  Let  no  party  prejudice 
hinder  its  accomplishment.  Stephen  A.  Douglas  spent  his  life  in 
the  service  of  the  state,  and  died  in  his  prime  with  his  armor  still  on 
He  died  not  alone  in  the  service  of  Illinois,  but  although  disease 
had  stricken  him,  he  hesitated  not  to  raise  his  voice  in  an  eloquent 
and  patriotic  appeal  for  his  country,  and  died  before  its  echoes  had 
ceased  to  reverberate  in  the  hearts  of  thousands  of  his  fellows. 
With  his  death  Illinois  lost  her  most  brilliant  and  illustrious 
statesman,  the  nation  one  of  its  most  devoted  champions.  Lincoln 
and  Douglas,  patriots  both,  the  sons  of  Illinois,  died  battling  for 
the  preservation  of  the  Union,  and  their  names  will  go  down  to 
posterity  associated  with  the  hallowed  names  of  the  fathers  of  the 
republic.  The  one  sleeps  the  everlasting  sleep  of  the  just  and 
good  within  sight  of  this  hall,  beneath  the  splendid  obelisk  erected 
over  his  remains  by  the  patriotic  and  grateful  people  of  the  nation, 
in  Oak  Ridge  cemetery;  the  other  lies  buried  beneath  an  incom- 
pleted  and  crumbling  tomb  on  the  beautiful  spot  selected  by  him- 
self on  the  shores  of  Lake  Michigan,  his  coffin  exposed  to  the  vicis- 
situdes of  the  weather,  reminding  the  visitor  forcibly  and  sadly 
of  the  old-time  saying  that  republics  are  ungrateful. 

The  services  of  this  great  man,  who,  during  his  life,  was  the  idol  of 
his  party  and  the  admiration  and  pride  of  his  country,  are  worthy 
of  more  honorable  recognition,  and  no  remains  are  deserving  more 
decent  sepulchre,  and  it  is  a  burning  shame  and  disgrace  to  the 
people  of  this  great  and  rich  state  that  he,  on  whose  words  thou- 
sands hung  entranced  as  he  uttered  his  last  memorable  sentences 
of  patriotic  fervor  and  devotion  to  the  cause  of  free  government  in 
this  land,  should  now  lie  uncared  for  and  forgotten,  with  no  fit- 
ting monument  to  tell  the  traveler  who,  with  reverent  steps,  visits 
his  grave,  where  his  remains  are  laid.  Gentlemen  tell  us  that  he 
needs  no  monument  to  recall  his  fame;  that  his  great  deeds,  and 
particularly  the  great  railroad  that  runs  through  the  state,  which 
he  did  so  much  to  have  constructed,  is  a  more  enduring  and  glori- 
ous monument  than  any  he  could  erect.  That  may  be  true,"t)ut, 
7 


98  HISTORY    OF    THE 

gentlemen,  that  was  founded  by  him,  not  in  his  own  honor,  but  for 
the  prosperity  and  benefit  of  his  people.  It  is  our  duty  to  mani- 
fest our  respect  and  admiration  for  the  great  departed  by  at  least 
erecting  a  memorial  over  his  remains.  I  trust  that  no  niggardly 
economy,  nor  partisan  feeling,  will  defeat  this  appropriation,  I 
know  that  our  constituency  will  approve  of  our  action,  and  that 
no  legislative  action  we  may  take  in  this  session  will  be  more  gen- 
erally commended. 

Mr.  Phillips,  of  Montgomery,  opposed  the  appropriation,  and  at 
the  conclusion  of  his  remarks  the  House  took  a  recess  until  2:30 
P.  M.  When  the  house  convened  after  recess,  Mr.  Winter,  of 
Bloomington,  led  off  in  a  brisk  and  fervent  speech  in  favor  of  the 
measure.  He  claimed,  that  as  $60,000  had  been  appropriated  by 
the  state  for  the  building  of  a  monument  for  Lincoln,  it  was  no 
more  than  fair  and  just  that  $50,000  should  be  appropriated  to  the 
erection  of  a  monument  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  Douglas. 

Mr.  Rowett  followed  with  a  warm  argument,  also  in  favor  of  the 
appropriation.  He  believed  it  was  a  patriotic  duty  which  this 
assembly  owed  to  the  people  of  the  State  and  to  the  memory  of  a 
great  man,  to  build  a  monument  over  his  remains. 

The  roll  was  called,  and  when  the  name  of  Pinney  was  reached, 
he  explained  his  vote  by  leave  of  the  House.  He  believed  the  bill 
was  for  a  patriotic  purpose,  and  he  should  cast  his  vote  for  it.  Mr. 
Matthews  also  explained  his  vote,  during  which  he  stated  that  he 
was  in  favor  of  the  bill,  and  hoped  enough  of  the  republicans 
would  change  their  votes  to  cause  it  to  pass. 

Mr.  Wall  thought  that  Mr.  Merritt  had  insulted  the  young 
democracy  of  Illinois,  in  his  remarks  to  the  House,  and  he  should 
therefore  vote  aye. 

Mr.  Chambers  explained  his  vote  by  claiming  that  the  people  of 
the  state  should  be  consulted  as  to  the  time  this  expenditure 
should  take  place.  He  wanted  to  cast  his  vote  for  the  bill. 

Mr.  Jack  also  voted  aye. 

The  bill  was  passed  by  a  vote  of  81  to  40.  The  following  is  the 
vote: 

YEAS — Abel,  Allen,  Bartholow,  Bibb,  Bielfeldt,  Bower,  Brown,  Buckmaster, 
Busey,  Byers,  Callon,  Chambers,  Chesley,  Clover,  Cronkrite,  Crooker,  Davis, 
Dennis,  Dunne,  Easton,  English,  Evans  of  Kane,  Foutch,  Graham,  Granger, 
Hall,  Hendrickson,  Herrington,  Herron,  Hickey,  Hopkins,  Irvin,  Jack,  Jay, 
Kearney,  Kedzie,  King,  Kiolbassa,  Leiper,  Lott,  Matthews,  McCreery,  Mitch- 
ell, Monohon,  Mooneyham,  Moore,  Morris.  Morrison  of  Christian,  Morrison  of 
Morgan,  Neal,  Oakwood,  Palmer,  Pinney,  Raley,  Reavill,  Reed,  Robison  of  Ful- 
ton, Rourke,  Rowett,  Secrist,  Sexton,  Sheridan,  Sittig,  Smith  of  Cook,  Smith  of 
Sangamon,  Smith  of  Tazewell,  Stowell,  Taylor  of  Cook,  Taylor  of  Kankakee, 


DOUGLAS   MONUMENT.  99 

Thomas,    Thompson,  Truesdel,  Voss,  Wall,  Wentwovth,  Wildcrman,  Wilkinson, 
Winter,  Wood,  Woodward,  Wright,  Zepp,  Mr.  Speaker — 8'2. 

NAYS — Albright,  Baldwin.  Black,  Boyd,  Browning,  Budlong.  Collier,  Con- 
nelly, Curtis,  Evans  of  Bond,  Fosbender,  Fritts,  Gill,  Goodrich,  Gray,  Halley, 
Heslet,  Hogge,  Hollister,  Hurd,  James,  Kouka,  Latimcr,  Mace,  Merritt,  Nevitt, 
Pierce  of  Pope,  Phillips  of  Franklin,  Phillips  of  Montgomery,  Ranney,  Rea- 
burn,  Ross,  Taggart,  Tierney,  Tyrrell,  Vandeventer,  Walker,  Washburn,  Wells, 
Whitaker  of  McDonough,  AVilderman — 41. 

ABSENTEES — Armstrong,  Ashton,  Berry,  Boydstone,  Cannon,  Duwey,  Foun- 
tain, Fox,  Gilbert,  Grennell,  Hefternan,  Klelim,  Koplin.  Lindsey,  McKindley 
of  Madison,  Powell,  Powers,  Ramsey,  Reman,  Robinson  of  Effingham,  Roche, 
Rogers,  Sherman,  Tice,  Watkins,  Westfall,  Wheeler,  Whitaker  of  St.  Clair,  and 
Williams— 30. 


[From  the  Chicago  Evening  Journal.} 

HON.  JOSEPH  E.  SMITH'S  ELOQUENT  APPEAL  IN  BE- 
HALF OF  THE  DOUGLAS  MONUMENT. 


DELIVERED    IN  THE  ILLINOIS  HOUSE  OP  REPRESENTATIVES,  FRIDAY, 

MARCH  23. 

Mr.  Speaker: — I  approach  the  consideration  of  this  subject 
this  morning  in  the  earnest  hope  that,  when  the  discussion  is  con- 
cluded, this  bill, which  is  not  now  for  the  first  time  before  the  General 
Assembly  of  this  State,  may  pass  this  House  by  a  large  majority, 
in  which  event  I  feel  assured  that  it  will  also  in  due  time  pass  the 
Senate,  receive  the  Executive  approval,  and  become  a  law. 

It  seems  to  me,  Mr.  Speaker,  that  justice  and  right  alike  re- 
quire that  this  bill  be  passed;  and  my  hope  is  that  1  may  be  able 
to  convince  at  least  a  constitutional  majority  of  this  House  that 
such  is  the  fact,  before  I  conclude  the  remarks,  necessarily  brief,  that 
I  shall  make  in  its  support;  for  if  it  be  true  that  justice  and  right 
demand  the  passage  of  this  bill,  surely  gentlemen  will  not  hesi- 
tate to  vote  the  appropriation,  and  especially  will  this  be  so  when 
they  take  into  consideration  the  other  fact,  sufficient,  it  would 
seem,  in  itself,  that  it  is  asked  to  complete  a  monument,  now  par- 
tially constructed,  on  land  owned  by  the  State,  and  designed  to 
perpetuate  the  memory  of  certainly  one  of  the  two  greatest  men 
that  the  State  of  Illinois  has  thus  far  produced. 

It  has  been  almost  from  time  immemorial,  certainly  so  far  back 
as  history  has  left  us  a  record,  the  uniform  practice  of  nations  and 
peoples  to  erect  to  their  great  and  good  men  lasting  monuments  to 
commemorate  their  names  and  deeds.  The  pyramids  of  Egypt  are 


HISTORY   OF    THE 

but  the  monuments  of  mighty  kings,  and  one  of  the  seven  won- 
ders of  the  world  was  the  mausoleum  erected  by  a  widowed  queen 
to  the  memory  of  her  royal  husband.  Indeed,  sir,  it  will  be  found 
that  all  through  the  ages — barbaric  as  well  as  civilized — it  has 
been  the  custom  to  erect  monuments  and  monumental  tombs,  in 
some  cases  magnificent  and  costly,  and  in  others  crude  and  inex- 
pensive, to  perpettiate  the  memory  of  men  who  had  done  their 
State  great  service. 

But,  Mr.  Speaker,  while  throughout  all  tb.3  ages  monuments 
have  been  thus  erected  by  grateful  peoples  in  commemoration  of 
the  deeds  of  men  mighty  in  war  or  renowned  in  peace,  who  had 
contributed  to  the  moral  or  historical  wealth  of  their  country,  where 
there  is  found  an  instance,  like  the  one  before  us,  of  a  citizen  who 
in  his  life-time  largely  contributed  not  only  to  the  honor,  dignity  and 
greatness  of  the  Commonwealth,  but  also  by  persistent  and  deter, 
mined  and  successful  effort  added  immensely  to  the  material  wealth 
of  his  State;  where  you  find  a  State  that,  like  our  own,  has  enjoyed 
for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century,  is  enjoying  now,  and  for  years  to 
come — aye,  for  all  time — shall  continue  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  the 
efforts  of  such  a  man, — it  does  seem,  as  I  said  before,  that  justice 
and  right  alike  require  that  such  services  be  commemorated  in  a 
fitting  way,  and  that  the  General  Assembly  of  a  State  like  ours  can 
well  afford,  and  should  not  hesitate,  to  take  from  the  wealth  which 
such  a  man  has  poured  into  its  treasury,  enough  to  fittingly  com- 
memorate the  great  services  he  rendered  to  her.  It  will  be  my 
pleasure,  before  I  conclude,  to  give  some  statistics  showing  in  what 
the  services  to  which  I  immediately  refer  consisted,  and  explain- 
ing why  I  claim  so  confidently  that  every  principle  of  equity  and 
fair-dealing  demands  that  this  act  of  tardy  justice  be  done.  Of 
course,  sir,  these  statistics  will  show  but  meagerly  the  vast  amount 
of  wealth,  which  through  the  efforts  of  Judge  Douglas  have  been 
poured  into  the  treasury  of  the  State.  What  we  can  touch  and 
see  can  be  approximately  arrived  at,  but  the  remote  and  intangible 
cannot  be  calculated.  I  will,  however,  before  entering  upon  that 
branch  of  the  discussion,  endeavor  to  give  briefly  the  history  of 
previous  legislation  touching  this  matter,  and,  so  far  as  necessary, 
describe  the  present  condition  and  needs  of  the  Douglas  monument 
and  grounds. 

Judge  Douglas  died  in  1861,  and  in  the  General  Assembly  of 
1865  a  bill  was  introduced,  which  afterwards  became  a  law,  and  is 
to  be  found  in  the  session  laws  of  that  year,  on  page  18,  appropri- 
ating $25,000  "  for  the  purpose  of  purchasing,"  as  the  bill  reads,  "  in 


DOUGLAS    MONUMENT.  101 

tho  name  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  the  lot  of  ground  in  which  now  re- 
pose the  remains  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  deceased."  In  that  bill 
it  is  stated  that  this  ground  was  owned  by  Mrs.  Douglas.  The  bill 
further  provides  that  "said  land  shall  be  held  fora  burial  place  for 
the  deceased,  and  for  no  other  purpose."  1  hold  in  my  hand  that 
bill,  which  passed  both  houses,  and  was  approved  February  16, 18G5. 
I  also  hold  in  my  hand  the  original  deed  from  Mrs.  Adele  Douglas 
to  Richard  J.  Oglesby,  Governor  of  the  State  of  Illinois.  It  con- 
veys the  land  mentioned  in  that  act,  is  a  general  warranty  deed, 
and  states  that  "  this  deed  is  executed  in  conformity  with  the  act 
of  the  legislature  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  authorizing  the  Gover- 
nor of  said  State  to  purchase  the  premises  therein  deccribed." 

I  am  not  aware  that  any  measure  has  been  introduced  into  this 
House  or  the  other — but  it  has  been  mooted  in  the  public  papers 
— to  change  the  location  of  this  monument,  and  to  remove  the 
remains  from  the  place  where  they  now  repose  to  some  other  local- 
ity in  the  city  of  Chicago.  Douglas  Park  on  the  West  side,  the 
Chicago  University  grounds,  the  entrance  to  the  Grand  boulevard, 
and  the  entrance  to  Drexel  boulevard  have  been  mentioned,  and 
some  even  desire — notably  the  Chicago  Tribune — that  the  remains 
be  removed  to  Graceland  or  Rosehill,  and  interred  in  one  or  the 
other  of  those  public  cemeteries.  Now,  sir,  the  act  to  which  I 
have  referred  reads,  "  where  now  repose  the  remains."  That  plat 
of  land  which  was  purchased  by  the  State  for  $25,000  was  and  is 
the  place  "  where  now  repose  the  remains,"  and  the  sum  so  appro- 
priated for  its  purchase  is  the  only  appropriation  ever  made  by  the 
State  in  aid  of  the  Douglas  monument.  That  land  is  worth  now, 
even  at  the  low  prices  of  to-day  at  least  double  the  amount  that 
it  cost  in  1865. 

In  case  of  the  removal  of  the  remains  by  the  State,  the  title 
would,  in  my  judgment,  revert  to  Mrs.  Douglas,  now  Mrs.  Will- 
iams; but  whether  this  would  be  so  or  not,  the  idea  of  removal 
should  not  be  entertained  for  a  moment,  and  I  am  unwilling  to  be- 
lieve that  it  will  find  a  single  advocate  on  the  floor  of  this  House. 
Besides,  sir,  it  is  a  fact  that  the  plat  of  land  on  which  that  unfin- 
ished monument  now  stands,  was  the  only  piece  of  land,  unincum- 
bered,  which  the  widow  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas  possessed  at  the 
time  of  his  decease.  It  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  state  why  it  was 
that  Judge  Douglas,  a  few  years  before  his  death,  became  embar- 
rassed and  was  obliged  to  mortgage  his  property,  the  principal 
part  of  which  was  finally  lost.  Had  he  been  of  a  less  generous 
disposition  he  might  have  died  rich.  But  I  do  state  it  as  a  fact, 


102  HISTORY    OF    THE 

and  one  which  I  wish  to  impress  upon  every  member  of  this  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  that  it  was  the  desire  of  Judge  Douglas,  frequently 
expressed,  that  his  body  might  repose  where  it  did  repose  at  the 
time  this  bill  for  the  purchase  of  the  land  became  a  law.  That  plat  of 
land  is  on  the  borders  of  Lake  Michigan;  it  is  a  part  of  that  large 
tract  which  once  belonged  to  Judge  Douglas,  and  upon  which  ho 
erected  a  cottage,  and  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  Cottage  Grove, 
which  it  still  retains.  When  he  died  there  were  but  few  residences 
erected  in  its  immediate  neighborhood,  and  it  was  his  almost  dying 
request  that  he  be  laid  there,  near  the  waters  of  Lake  Michigan, 
and  close  upon  its  banks.  He  was  laid  there,  and  these  he  still 
reposes. 

After  his  death  it  will  be  remembered  that  there  was  a  struggle 
for  the  possession  of  his  remains.  Mrs.  Douglas  herself  had  ex- 
pressed the  wish  that  the  body  should  be  laid  in  the  Congressional 
burying-ground  at  Washington,  and  but  for  the  request  of  her  hus- 
band, to  which  I  just  alluded,  she  would  probably  have  insisted  up- 
on its  being  taken  to  the  National  Capital.  But  the  State  of  Illinois 
persistently  demanded  that  the  body  of  her  dead  statesman  should 
repose  beneath  her  soil,  and  her  persistency  carried  the  point,  and 
he  was  buried  beneath  her  soil,  on  the  very  spot  where  the  unfin- 
ished monument  now  stands.  Sir,  the  State  itself  offered  to  buy 
this  land.  It  was  no  request  of  Mrs.  Douglas,  or  of  the  heirs,  or 
of  the  people  of  Chicago,  that  this  land  be  purchased  by  the  State; 
but  the  State  itself,  of  its  own  motion,  offered  to  purchase  of  the 
widow  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas  that  lot  of  land  which  he  himself 
had  selected  as  his  burial-place,  and  to  pay  for  it  its  full  value,  in 
order  that  the  remains  might  lie  in  the  soil  of  this  State,  in  land 
to  which  the  State  had  the  title,  and  so  that  no  one  thereafter  could 
have  the  right,  at  any  time,  to  remove  those  remains  without  the 
consent  of  the  State  and  the  widow  and  the  heirs-at-law.  Such  is 
the  fact  so  far  as  the  purchase  of  the  land  is  concerned.  It  was 
bought  by  the  State  at  the  request  of  the  people;  and  it  was  then 
proposed  to  erect  over  the  remains  a  monument  which  should  be  a 
fitting  memorial  of  the  illustrious  dead.  The  State  was  not  asked 
at  that  time  to  appropriate  anything  for  this  purpose,  but  sub- 
sequently a  bill  appropriating  money  to  build  a  monument  passed 
in  one  branch  of  the  General  Assembly,  but  failed  to  secure  a  con- 
stitutional majority  in  the  other,  and  therefore  did  not  become  a 
law.  Private  subscriptions  were  then  started,  and  other  means  re- 
sorted to  to  procure  funds  for  the  purpose,  and  upwards  of  820,000 
was  collected,  and  so  much  of  the  monument  as  is  now  completed 


DOUGLAS    MONUMENT.  103 

was  thereupon  erected.  It  has  been  stated,  I  am  free  to  say,  that 
in  the  payment  of  salaries,  office  rent,  etc.,  several  thousand  dol- 
lars of  the  money  so  collected  was  diverted  from  the  object  for 
which  it  was  contributed.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  asserted  that 
every  dollar  was  prudently  expended.  I  prefer  to  believe  and  do 
believe  the  latter  assertion.  But  be  that  as  it  may,  the  money, 
whether  wisely  expended  or  not,  was  all  expended,  and  none  of  it 
remains.  It  served  to  construct  so  much  of  the  monument  as^  is 
now  complete,  that  is,  so  far  as  to  be  fitted  to  receive  the  sarcoph- 
agus containing  the  remains. 

This  bill  asks  for  an  appropriation  of  $50,000  to  complete  the 
monument  where  it  now  stands.  The  high  character  of  each 
of  the  commissioners  named  therein,  is  a  sufficient  guaranty 
that  the  money,  if  appropriated,  will  be  wisely  and  economically 
expended  ;  and  I  assure  you,  gentlemen,  that  with  the  amount 
named,  the  monument  shall  be  completed  on  its  present  site,  the 
grounds  made  worthy  of  the  treasure  they  hold,  and  that  no  further 
or  other  sum  will  be  asked  by  the  Monument  Association  in  aid  of 
the  one  object  or  the  other.  Bills  to  accomplish  the  purpose  sought 
to  be  accomplished  by  this  bill,  have  from  time  to  time  been  in- 
troduced into  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State,  at  one  session 
passing  one  house  and  at  another  session  the  other  house,  but  up 
to  this  time  failing  to  pass  both  houses,  and  thereby  becoming  a 
law.  In  the  meantime,  the  monument  and  grounds  are  neglected; 
cattle  wander  at  will  over  the  premises;  the  fences  have  gone  to 
decay  and  fallen — only  that  of  wooden  pickets  surrounding  the 
monument  itself  remains  standing — and  within  that  narrow  space 
the  monument  is  cared  for. 

But,  perhaps,  gentlemen  will  say:  "Why  not  erect  monuments 
to  other  men?  Is  not  this  establishing  a  bad  precedent?  Shall 
we  not  be  called  upon  by  and  by  to  make  other  appropriations  of 
a  sim  lar  character  and  for  similar  reasons?  Is  it  prudent  to  do 
this  thing?"  These  objections  are  not  without  weight.  But,  sir, 
I  say  to  all  who  make  them,  "  come  and  let  us  reason  together." 
If  we  except  that  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  is  there  now,  or  is  there 
likely  to  be  in  our  day  and  generation,  an  instance  requiring  at  our 
hands  the  recognition  that  the  one  before  us  does?  In  view  of 
tJhe  man  and  all  that  he  did  for  us,  do  we  ask  anything  that  is  not 
pre-eminently  just  and  right? 

I  commenced,  Mr.  Speaker,  by  saying  that  to  vote  this  appropri- 
ation was  but  an  act  of  justice  and  right.  Let  me  try  to  explain 
now  why  I  so  consider  it.  The  older  members  of  this  House  know, 


104:  HISTORY    OF    THE 

because  they  were  here;  the  younger  members  know,  because  they 
have  read  and  heard  of  it — of  the  long  siege  which  finally  resulted 
in  the  passage  by  the  two  houses  of  Congress  of  the  bill  for  an  act 
donating  lands  to  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company  of  this 
State.  That  act  became  a  law  in  the  year  1850.  Judge  Doug- 
Ins  entered  the  United  States  Senate  in  1847  ;  he  entered  tin 
House  of  Representatives  in  1843,  being  then  but  30  years  old. 
Frpin  the  time  he  entered  the  House  up  to  the  time  this  bill 
finally  became  a  law,  he  had  devoted  himself,  all  the  while,  with 
persistent  effort,  to  obtaining  this  grant.  True,  he  was  not  alone 
in  this  effort;  the  distinguished  Justice  Breese,  who  has  for  so 
many  years  adorned  the  Supreme  bench  of  this  State,  was,  during 
a  large  portion  of  that  time,  representing  the  State  of  Illinois  in 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  and,  as  chairman  of  the  Commit- 
tee on  Public  Lands,  devoted  his  time  and  attention  and  exerted 
his  great  influence  and  his  every  effort,  while  he  remained  in  the 
Senate,  to  further  the  measure  which  Judge  Douglas  had  intro- 
duced into  the  House,  and  subsequently  so  earnestly  and  success- 
fully advocated  in  the  Senate. 

It  was  owing  to  the  efforts  of  these  two  men  that  that  measure 
was  finally  adopted.  By  the  passage  of  that  law,  the  Illinois  Cen- 
tral Railroad  Company  received  alternate  sections  of  the  public 
lands  on  the  line  of  that  railroad.  Some  question  arose  as  to 
whether  the  road  should  be  built  on  the  line  of  the  old  Illinois 
Central  road  or  follow  a  different  course,  and  it  is  a  part  of  the 
history  of  the  State  how  that  difficulty  was  finally  settled  by  tak- 
ing the  old  road-bed,  and  constructing  a  branch  from  Chicago, 
tapping  the  main  line  at  Centralia.  There  was  great  opposition 
to  this  land  grant  in  some  parts  of  the  State,  because  the  proposed 
line  of  the  road  cut  them  off  from  its  advantages.  All  these  dif- 
ficulties were  finally  adjusted  by  the  construction  of  this  branch 
line.  Judge  Douglas  at  the  first  feared  that  to  include  this  branch 
line  might  result  in  the  defeat  of  the  whole  bill,  but  was  finally  in- 
duced to  advocate  the  measure,  with  the  branch  line  included,  and 
in  1850  the  bill  became  a  law.  At  that  time  the  State  of  Illinois 
had  a  population  of  less  than  800,000.  Within  five  years  its  pop- 
ulation had  increased  to  nearly  1,500,000.  That  line  of  railroad 
which  started  over  the  prairie  and  through  sparsely-settled  vil- 
lages, became  alive  with  active,  strong  men  and  brave  women,  the 
founders  of  towns  now  populous  and  wealthy.  The  population  of 
the  State  increased  at  an  unprecedented  rate,  not  only  enabling 
the  railroad  company  to  build  its  road  by  the  sale  of  its  lands,  and 


DOUGLAS    MONUMENT. 


105 


to  pay  the  State,  as  it  has  done  from  that  day  to  this,  a  vast  in- 
come, but  the  General  Government  itself,  which  had  donated  this 
land  found  that  by  the  settlement  of  the  alternate  sections  still 
belonging1  to  it,  money  was  poured  into  its  own  coffers,  so  that  the 
United  States  lost  nothing  by  its  gift,  and  the  State  gained  and 
the  road  gained  immensely.  The  Illinois  Central  Railroad  was 
completed,  an  outlet  for  the  products  of  the  fertile  Valley  of  the 
Mississippi  was  provided,  and  cities,  towns  and  villages  sprang  up 
all  along  the  line  as  if  by  enchantment. 

The  other  day  I  asked  the  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts,  to  have 
prepared  for  me  a  detailed  stitement  of  the  annual  receipts  by  the 
State  from  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company,  which,  by  the 
terms  of  its  charter  pays  7  per  cent,  of  its  gross  earnings  to  the 
State.  I  now  hold  in  my  hand  that  statement.  A  copy  has  been 
furnished  the  press,  and  will  be  found  printed  in  the  morning  pa- 
pers of  to-day.  In  1855,  the  first  year  of  its  operation,  there  was 
but  $29,751.59  paid  into  the  treasury  of  the  State.  In  1876,  the 
last  year,  $356,005.58.  In  1865,  the  year  of  the  close  of  the  war, 
the  amount  was  $496,489,84,  being  about  $32,000  in  excess  of  any 
other  year;  while  the  aggregate  received  into  the  State  Treasury 
during  the  twenty-two  years  of  its  operation,  from  the  Illinois  Cen- 
tral Railroad  Company,  as  shown  by  the  subjoined  statement, 
reaches  the  enormous  sum  of  $6,976,607.48.  The  annual  receipts 
have  been  as  follows: 


YEAR.  AMOUNT. 

1855 $  29,751 .59 

18-56  77,631.66 

1857  145,646.84 

1858 132,005.53 

1859 132,104.46 

1*60 177,557.22 

1861  177,257.81 

1862 212,174.60 

1863  300,394.58 

1864 405,514.04 

1865  496,489.84 


YEAR.  AMOUNT. 

1866 $  427,075.65 

1867 444,007.74 

1868 4  8,397.48 

1869 464,933.31 

1870 464,584.52 

1871 463,512.91 

1872 442,856.54 

1873 428.574.00 

1874 394,366.46 

1875 375,766.02 

1876 '  356,005.58 


Total $6,976,607.48 


But  that  amount,  enormous  as  it  is,  represents  only  the  cash  that 
has  been  paid  directly  by  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company 
into  the  treasury  of  the  State;  it  includes  no  portion  of  that  added 
wealth  of  which  I  have  heretofore  spoken  as  incalculable,  and  for 
which  the  State  is  so  largely  indebted  to  the  construction  of  that 
road. 

I  assume,  sir,  that  no  one  on  the  floor  of  this  House  will  deny 


106  HISTORY    OF    THE 

that  it  was  owing  to  the  efforts  of  Judge  Douglas  that  this  sum 
was  secured  to  the  State.  Without  him  the  land  grant  bill  would 
not  have  passed.  Prior  to  its  passage,  Judge  Breese,  who  had  so 
ably  advocated  its  passage,  had  retired  from  the  Senate  and  been 
succeeded  by  General  Shields,  who  also  succeeded  him  as  chair- 
man of  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands.  But  Judge  Douglas,  not 
leaving  it  when  his  associates  left  him,  pushed  the  bill  with  renewed 
vigor  and  did  not  relax  his  efforts  till  it  became  a  law;  and  I  assert, 
Mr.  Speaker,  that  but  for  his  persistent  efforts,  this  grant  to  the  Illi- 
nois Central  Railroad  Company  would  not  have  been  made  and 
this  road  would  not  have  been  built,  and  this  sum  would  not  have 
been  paid  into  the  treasury  of  the  State;  and  I  repeat  that  vast  as 
that  sum  is,  it  represents  but  a  fraction  of  the  wealth  that  this 
State  has  derived  from  the  construction  of  that  road.  In  popula- 
it  has  increased  from  less  than  a  million  to  three  millions  and  a 
half,  and  who  can  estimate  the  proportion  of  that  increase  justly 
to  be  credited  to  the  building  of  that  road,  or  tell  in  figures  the 
value  of  that  living  wealth?  Thousands  of  acres  of  land  that  a 
quarter  of  a  century  ago  could  not  have  been  sold  for  a  dollar  an 
acre,  are  now  yielding  from  twenty  to  thirty  dollars  an  acre  yearly 
in  taxes.  I  do  not  say  but  that  this  population  might  have  gone 
somewhere  else  in  this  State  than  along  the  line  of  that  road  or 
that  other  roads  might  not  have  been  built;  but  it  may  be  asserted 
without  fear  of  contradiction  that  this  great  artery  would  not  have 
been  opened  through  the  heart  of  the  State,  but  for  the  grant 
which  Judge  Douglas  procured  from  the  United  States  of 
America. 

Now  what  are  the  friends  of  this  measure  asking  from  the  State? 
They  are  asking  the  comparatively  small  sum  of  $50,000.  For 
what?  It  is  not  to  erect  a  monument;  not  to  start  a  new  project: 
not  to  establish  a  precedent  which  may  be  bad;  but  they  come 
before  the  General  Assembly  to  say  to  us,  the  representatives  of 
the  great  State  of  Illinois:  "  You  have  purchased  and  you  own 
this  plat  of  land  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Michigan ;  you  purchased 
it  for  the  purpose  of  depositing  in  it  the  remains  of  one  of  your 
greatest  sons.  Individuals  have  done  what  they  could,  and  have 
left  there  a  monument  in  an  unfinished  state,  and  we  ask  only  that 
you  take  from  the  coffers  of  this  State  less  than  one  cent  on  the 
dollar  of  the  vast  sum  that  Judge  Douglas  contributed  to  place  in 
those  coffers,  for  the  purpose  of  completing  this  work,  which  has 
been  so  long  begun,  and  which  the  State  owes  it  to  itself  to  finish." 
And  speaking  for  myself,  I  say,  Mr.  Speaker,  that  it  is  a  disgrace 


DOUGLAS   MONUMENT.  107 

to  the  State  that  that  monument  should  be  left  in  the  condition  that 
it  is  now  in,  when  comparatively  so  small  a  sum  is  required  to  com- 
plete it. 

But  it  may  be  said  that  it  is  better  not  to  do  it  now,  as  a  matter 
of  economy;  that  the  State  is  called  upon  to  appropriate  large  sums 
of  money  for  charitable  institutions,  and  that  it  is  better  to  wait 
awhile.  Anticipating  this,  I  this  morning  asked  the  Auditor  of 
Public  Accounts  to  give  me  a  statement  showing  the  balance  in 
the  treasury  on  the  first  day  of  March,  A.  D.  1877.  That  balance 
was  $1,771,309.17;  our  State  debt  is  comparatively  nothing;  and 
I  venture  to  say  that  there  is  not  a  State  in  the  Union  that  can  give 
a  better  showing.  Of  that  money,  during  the  last  year,  $356,005.- 
58  was  paid  into  the  treasury  by  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad 
Company. 

Now,  I  rose,  Mr.  Speaker,  simply  for  the  purpose  of  giving  these 
facts.  I  shall  be  followed  by  gentlemen  who  will  give  the  record 
and  illustrate  the  character  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas  in  more  elo- 
quent language  than  I  could  hope  to  do.  I  never  in  my  life  met 
him  but  once.  I  never  heard  from  his  lips  but  two  words,  and 
those  were  addressed  to  myself.  Those  words  were  "  Get  right!  " 
But  I  must  say  that  I  knew  him  by  his  works.  I  knew  him  by 
hearing  of  him  from  those  who  were  intimate  with  him,  and  who 
knew  his  worth  and  appreciated  what  he  was.  The  true  nobility 
and  greatness  of  a  nation  consists  in  the  nobility  and  greatness  of 
its  representative  men.  I  regard  Stephen  A.  Douglas  as  one  of 
the  two  greatest  men  that  Illinois  has  ever  produced.  I  regard 
him  as  pre-eminently  a  self-made  man.  Coming  into  this  State  a 
stripling,  with  but  two  dollars  in  his  pocket;  serving  as  an  auc- 
tioneer's clerk,  and  earning  his  first  six  dollars  in  that  way;  teach- 
ing school  and  eking  out  a  meager  livelihood  till  he  attained  his 
majority;  stepping  forth  a  marked  man  on  the  very  threshold  of 
his  manhood,  and  going  on  "conquering  and  to  conquer,"  I  re- 
gard him  as  a  representative  man  of  the  genius  and  character  of 
the  American  people.  I  regard  him  as  a  man,  honest,  upright, 
just;  of  great  power  of  intellect  and  of  great  strength  of  purpose; 
knowing  and  always  pursuing  the  right;  a  man,  in  short,  whom  any 
State  or  people  should  delight  to  honor.  And  shall  this  State  re- 
fuse to  honor  him — rather  I  should  say  to  do  him  justice — when  all 
we  ask  is  that  his  unfinished  monument  on  the  banks  of  Lake  Mich- 
igan may  be  completed?  That  on  the  foundation  which  the  liber- 
ality of  individuals  has  constructed,  a  column  may  rise  bearing  the 
statue  of  the  illustrious  statesman,  and  visible  from  the  land  and 


108  HISTORY    OF   THE 

from  the  broad  bosom  of  the  lake,  upon  whose  banks  the  dust  of 
the  honored  dead  reposes,  a  fitting  memorial  of  the  greatness  of 
him  whose  achievements  it  is  erected  to  commemorate,  and  of  the 
gratitude  of  the  State  which  honored  itself  in  honoring  him. 

If,  sir,  my  limited  time  permits  me  to  allude  to  anything  else 
which  should  operate  to  make  men  unite  for  the  passage  of  this  bill, 
let  me  briefly  refer  to  those  dark  days  of  the  Republic,  when  the 
black  cloud  of  secession  and  disunion  hung  over  this  nation,  and 
when  we  knew  not  whether  out  of  that  cloud  should  come  the 
lightning  stroke  that  would  destroy  us  as  a  people,  or  whether  from 
behind  it  the  light  of  heaven  should  again  shine  forth,  dispelling 
the  darkness,  and  again  illuminating  everything  with  the  bright- 
ness of  its  rays.  Let  me  remind  you,  gentlemen,  that  in  those  dark 
days,  Stephen  A.  Douglas  rose  up  in  his  might,  here  in  the  city  of 
Springfield,  and  in  a  speech  glowing  with  eloquence  and  patriot- 
ism, put  at  rest  all  doubt,  quieted  all  fear,  and  nerved  the  hearts 
of  his  countrymen  to  that  mighty  effort,  the  issue  of  which  was  the 
maintained  integrity  of  the  Union.  Two  months  afterwards  that 
voice,  then  so  mighty  for  good,  was  hushed  in  the  silence  of  death; 
a  nation  stood  with  bowed  head,  and  the  hearts  of  a  great  people 
were  filled  with  a  sadness  inexpressible.  Men  who  had  opposed 
him  in  the  political  arena,  and  against  whom  the  mighty  power  of 
his  matchless  eloquence  had  been  brought  to  bear,  stood  sorrow- 
ful before  the  tremendous  reality  that  one  of  earth's  greatest  men 
had  fallen;  while  those  who  had  been  of  his  political  household, 
who  were  his  familiar  friends,  who  had  sat,  as  it  were,  at  his  feet» 
and  drunk  in  the  political  wisdom  that  flowed  from  his  lips,  felt 
almost  as  if  death  had  entered  their  own  homes  and  taken  from 
their  family  circle  the  form  of  a  loved  one.  Like  him  whom  Web- 
ster apostrophized  so  grandly,  Douglas  was  cut  off  in  the  hour  of 
overwhelming  anxiety  and  thick  gloom,  and  like  his  would  I  have 
the  memory  of  Douglas  endure,  "wheresoever  among  men  a  heart 
shall  be  found  that  beats  to  the  transports  of  patriotism  and  liberty.  " 
It  may  be,  sir,  that  republics  are  ungrateful;  it  can  never  be  that 
they  are  justly  so.  Carlyle  has  said  that  "the  hands  of  forgotten 
brave  men  have  made  it  a  world  for  us."  Forgotten  brave  men! 
True.  But  that  such  men  have  been  forgotten,  though  it  prove 
the  truth  not  only  of  the  adage  that  republics  are  ungrateful,  but 
that  all  nations  are  alike  so,  proves  none  the  less  that  they  should 
not  be. 

Upon  the  one  side  of  this  house  hangs  the  portrait  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,  upon  the  other  that  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas — Illinois'  two 


DOUGLAS   MONUMENT.  109 

greatest  sons.  In  Oak  Ridge  Cemetery,  almost  within  the  shadow  of 
the  dome  which  rises  above  us,  the  massive  monument  to  the  former 
towers  to  Heaven,  grand,  perhaps,  in  its  architectural  design,  grander 
in  its  purpose,  grandest  in  that  it  is  a  memorial  of  the  gratitude  and 
the  grief  of  a  great  State  and  nation.  On  the  shores  of  Lake  Mich- 
igan, within  sound  of  the  sighing  of  the  waves  of  that  mighty  sea, 
unfinished  and  neglected,  stand  the  foundation  stones  of  the  monu- 
ment proposed  to  be  erected  to  the  memory  of  that  other  illustrious 
man,  upon  whom  for  years  every  son  of  Illinois  looked  with  pride 
and  affection.  The  friends  of  this  bill  ask  of  the  State  that  hon- 
ored Stephen  A.  Douglas  so  much  while  living,  to  no  longer  neg- 
lect to  do  justice  to  his  memory.  Let  the  monumental  shaft  at 
Oak  Ridge  Cemetery,  and  the  beautiful  column  on  the  shores  of 
Lake  Michigan,  as  they  point  heavenward,  teach  our  young  men,  as 
they  stand  at  the  base  of  the  one  or  the  other,  to  emulate  the  vir- 
tues and  the  example  of  those  whose  virtues  and  patriotism  those 
monuments  are  erected  to  commemorate.  Victor  Hugo  has  said 
that  it  is  well  to  celebrate  the  anniversaries  of  great  events,  for 
such  celebrations  stimulate  to  other  great  achievements.  As  truly 
may  it  be  said  that  it  is  well  to  erect  monuments  to  perpetuate  the 
memory  of  the  truly  great,  for  they  stand  always  as  monitors,  bid- 
ding the  living  strive  to  be  also  great,  that  their  words  and  deeds 
may  be  alike  remembered  and  honored  by  those  whose  benefactors 
they  may  prove  to  be. 

In  conclusion,  I  appeal  to  you,  gentlemen,  one  and  all,  to  vote 
the  appropriation  asked  in  this  bill. 


On  the  15th  day  of  May,  1877,  the  House  bill  was  taken  up 
by  the  Senate  and  passed  without  debate.     It  was  approved  on 
the  22d  following  by  Governor  Cullom,  and  thus  became  a  law,    | 
taking  effect  July  1st,  1877. 

The  same  Legislature  voted  an  appropriation  of  $27,000  to 
complete  the  Lincoln  monument  at  Springfield,  and  it  was  pre- 
sumed that  one  measure  assisted  the  other. 

Pursuant  to  a  call,  the  commissioners  named  in  the  foregoing 
bill  met  at  the  Palmer  House  July  2d,  1877,  and  organized,  by 
the  selection  of  a  President  and  Secretary,  and  an  Executive 
Committee. 


110  HISTORY  OF  THE 

The  writer  was  requested  to  submit  his  designs  for  the  mon- 
ument, which  were  substantially  the  same  as  had  been  adopted 
by  the  Trustees  in  1864 — the  original  model  of  the  design 
having  been  destroyed  in  the  great  fire  of  '71,  he  had  since 
then  reproduced  it  by  drawings,  with  some  slight  modifications, 
and  the  same  were  exhibited  before  the  Legislature  of  1875. 

These  designs,  together  with  plans  for  coping  around  base 
of  monument,  coping  and  sidewalk  along  Douglas  avenue  south 
of  monument  grounds,  and  a  terrace  wall  along  the  railway 
track  east  of  the  grounds,  were  submitted  and  explained  before 
the  commission,  and  were  unanimously  re-adopted  by  the  com- 
missioners. 


The  next  meeting  of  the  commission  was  held  July  7th. 
The  Chicago  Times  of  the  8th  contained  the  following: 

"The  Douglas  Monument  Commission,  consisting  of  Judges 
Drummond,  Trumbull,  Caton,  and  Fridley,  and  Messrs.  Potter 
Palmer,  M.  W.  Fuller,  R.  T.  Lincoln,  and  Ralph  Plumb,  met  in 
Judge  Drummond's  room,  United  States  building,  on  yesterday 
afternoon,  the  full  board  present. 

Mr.  Lincoln,  on  behalf  of  the  committee  appointed  at  the  meet- 
ing on  Monda}r  to  make  an  examination  of  the  design  for  the  mon- 
ument, as  originally  made  by  Leonard  W.  Volk,  and  in  accord- 
ance with  which  the  work  was  begun  in  1868,  reported  that  in 
their  judgment  it  fulfilled  the  requirements  in  every  respect,  and 
recommended  its  adoption  by  the  commission.  The  committee 
had  taken  the  advice  of  a  competent  architect,  whose  opinion  was 
that  a  granite  shaft  might  safely  be  placed  on  the  Lemont  lime- 
stone base  already  erected;  or,  the  monument  could  be  completed 
with  the  same  stone  as  that  used  in  the  tomb,  though  it 
would  be  necessary  to  see,  first,  that  the  foundations  were  well 
and  carefully  laid.  The  committee  would  recommend  a  division 
of  the  work,  giving  to  Mr.  Volk  the  statuary,  and  putting  the  ma- 
sonry into  the  hands  of  an  architect.  In  conclusion,  the  committee 
submitted  a  resolution  to  the  effect  that  Mr.  Volk  be  asked  to 
submit  double  proposals  for  completing  the  monumental  statuary; 
one  stating  time  and  terms  for  doing  the  work  as  a  whole,  the 


DOUGLAS   MONUMENT.  Ill 

other,  times  and  prices  for  the  surmounting  statue  and  the  sur- 
rounding allegorical  prices,  separately,  that  the  commission  might 
choose. 

Considerable  discussion  followed.  Mr.  Fuller  favored  a  division 
of  the  work — one  man  to  do  the  statuary,  another  the  masonry. 
Judge  Fridley  thought  the  work  could  be  done  cheaper  if  let  to 
one  man,  and  it  seemed  to  him  that  the  most  reliable  person  was 
Mr.  Volk.  Judge  Caton  was  in  favor  of  granite,  and  opposed  to 
limestone  for  the  shaft.  So,  also  was  Judge  Drummond.  He  pre- 
ferred advertising  for  the  work  as  a  whole.  Mr.  Palmer  thought 
there  should  be  an  architect.  The  commission  should  advertise 
for  proposals,  and  let  each  part  of  the  work  to  the  lowest  bidder. 
Judge  Catori  suggested  that  they  advertise  for  proposals  both  in 
whole  and  in  part  and  then  they  could  choose.  After  some  further 
talk  the  report  of  the  committee  was  received,  and  the  resolution 
adopted.  On  motion  the  same  committee,  consisting  of  Messrs. 
Fuller,  Lincoln,  and  Palmer,  was  continued,  with  instructions  to 
procure  plans  and  specifications,  and  after  a  careful  examination 
of  them  to  advertise  for  proposals  for  the  work,  except  the  statuary. 
The  commission  then  adjourned  to  meet  two  weeks  from  Tuesday 
next.  The  committee  will  meet  at  the  Palmer  house,  at  2  o'clock 
this  afternoon." 

The  following  resolution  was  passed  at  this  meeting : 

Resolved,  That  the  secretary  of  this  commission  be  and  he  is  hereby  directed 
to  request  Mr.  Leonard  W.  Volk  to  submit  to  this  commission,  at  his  earliest 
convenience,  proposals  for  the  execution  and  completion,  including  the  placing 
of  the  same,  of  the  statuary  for  the  Douglas  Monument,  at  Chicago,  according 
to  the  design  adopted  by  the  Douglas  Monument  Association.  Which  propos- 
als shall  state  the  price  at  which,  and  the  time  within  which  he  would  contract 
to  execute  and  complete  said  statuary  in  whole,  and  also  the  price  and  time  for 
and  within  which  he  would  contract  to  execute,  complete  and  place:  First,  the 
statue  designed  to  surmount  said  monument ;  Second,  the  figures  at  the  corners, 
and  Third,  the  Relief  work ;  taken  and  considered  separately. 

A  true  copy  of  resolution  adopted  by  commissioners  to  com- 
plete Douglas  Monument  at  Chicago,  July  7th,  1877. 

M.  W.  FULLER, 
Sec'y  of  said  Commission. 


At  a  subsequent  meeting  of  the  Executive  Committee,  held 
soon  after,  the  writer  was  ordered  to  prepare  working  plans  and 


112  HISTORY    OF    THE 

specifications,  to  be  made  ready  forthwith,  for  the  superstruct- 
ure of  the  monument,  (i.  e.  all  that  portion  above  the  tomb  to 
the  base  of  statue)  to  be  of  a  light-colored  New  England 
granite. 

Also,  plans  and  specifications  for  coping  around  base  of  mon- 
ument and  along  Douglas  avenue,  a  sidewalk  in  same  street, 
/  and  a  terrace  wall  along  the  railway. 

The  following  agreement  was  made: 

This  memorandum  of  an  agreement  made  at  Chicago,  this  first 
day  of  August,  A.  D.  1877,  between  the  Commissioners  of  the 
Douglas  Monument  at  Chicago,  and  Leonard  W.  Volk,  of  the  city 
of  Chicago,  county  of  Cook  and  State  of  Illinois,  Witnesseth: 
That  the  said  Leonard  W.  Volk,  for  the  consideration  hereinafter 
named,  agrees  that  the  designs,  plans,  drawings  and  specifications 
of  the  Douglas  Monument  at  Chicago,  already  drawn  and  prepared 
by  him  and  furnished  to  said  Commissioners,  shall  and  do  belong 
to  the  latter,  and  they  and  the  preparation  of  the  same  are  paid  for 
in  full  by  this  agreement. 

Said  Volk,  further  for  said  consideration  agrees  to  furnish  all 
working  plans,  drawings,  designs  and  specifications,  and  copies 
thereof,  and  models  which  may  be  required  for  the  architectural 
and  other  work  named  in  specifications  No.  1,  and  all  work  speci- 
fied in  specifications  Nos.  2  and  3  (said  specifications  having 
been  already  prepared  by  said  Volk),  needed  and  required  for  the 
execution  of  the  work  herein  named,  and  also  all  other  specifica- 
tions, plans,  drawings,  etc.,  required  for  the  completion  of  said 
monument  in  accordance  with  the  existing  general  design  thereof. 

Said  Volk  further  agrees  for  said  consideration  to  superintend 
the  work  named  in  specifications  Nos.  1,  2  and  3  as  the  same  may 
be  contracted  for  and  directed  by  said  Commissioners  to  be  done, 
and  all  other  work  in  and  about  the  completion  of  said  monument 
and  its  grounds,  if  and  as  requested  and  directed  by  said  Commis- 
sioners. The  superintending  of  said  Volk  to  be  strictly  under  the 
direction  of  said  Commission,  and  no  authority  being  hereby  given 
to  said  Volk  to  incur  any  liability  for  and  on  account  of  said  Com- 
missioners, or  make  any  change  in  said  work  not  authorized  by  them 
without  their  specific  assent. 

And  in  consideration  of  the  faithful  performance  of  the  fore- 
going, the  said  Commissioners  of  the  Douglas  Monument  at  Chi- 
cago hereby  agree  to  pay  to  said  Leonard  W.  Volk  the  sum  of  five 


DOUGLAS   MONUMENT.  113 

hundred  dollars.  In  witness  whereof  the  parties  hereto  have  sub- 
scribed these  presents  (the  party  of  first  part  by  its  President  and 
Secretary)  the  day  and  year  first  above  written. 

Commissioners  of  Douglas  Monument  at  Chicago,  by 

J.  D.  CATON,  Pres. 

M.  W.  FULLEB,  Sec'y. 

LEONAJID  W.  VOLK. 

The  writer  subsequently  rebated  $200  from  the  above  con- 
tract. 


At  the  next  meeting  of  the  committee,  the  writer  was  ordered 
to  omit  certain  ornaments  resting  on  the  corners  of  the  main 
base  of  the  superstructure,  and  enlarge  the  diameter  of  the 
column  at  the  top,  when  the  following  advertisement  was  pub- 
lished in  the  daily  papers: 

DOUGLAS   MONUMENT    COMMISSION. 

Proposals  are  invited  for  the  New  England  granite  work  necessary  to  com- 
plete the  Douglas  Monument  in  Chicago,  and  for  walls,  sidewalk  and  limestone 
or  sandstone  coping, 

Also  for  marble  and  tile  work  in  the  tomb  chamber  and  work  on  sarcophagus. 

Full  plans  and  specifications  of  the  work  can  be  seen  at  the  office  of  Robert 
T.  Lincoln,  No  31  Portland  Block,  Chicago. 

The  above  work  is  described  in  three  separate  specifications,  and  proposals 
are  requested  for  the  work  on  each  specification  separately,  and  also  for  all  the 
work  together.  Specimens  of  the  material  proposed  must  accompany  each  bid. 

Each  bidder  will  name  in  his  proposal  the  time  within  which  he  will  com- 
plete the  work  proposed  for  by  him,  if  his  bid  is  accepted. 

A  satisfactory  bond,  with  two  sureties,  in  the  sum  of  one-half  the  amount  of 
each  contract,  will  be  required  of  the  successful  bidder,  to  insure  the  comple- 
tion of  such  contract.  Names  of  proposed  sureties  should  accompany  bids. 

No  payments  will  be  made  on  any  contract  until  the  full  completion  of  the 
work  named. 

Proposals  should  be  in  sealed  envelopes,  marked  "  Proposals  for  Work  on 
Douglas  Monument,"  and  addressed  to  Melville  W.  Fuller,  Secretary  of  the 
Commission,  No.  152  Dearborn  street,  Chicago. 

Proposals  will  be  received  until  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  Saturday,  July 
28,  1877,  and  will  be  opened  at  a  meeting  of  the  Commission. 

The  right  is  reserved  to  accept  or  reject  any  bid,  or  to  reject  all  bids,  in  the 
absolute  discretion  of  the  Commission. 

Chicago,  July  18,  1877. 

ROBERT  T.  LINCOLN, 
POTTER  PALMER, 
MELVILLE  W.  FULLER, 

Committee. 

The  meeting  was  held  as  advertised  and  the  bids  of  a  large 
number  of  contractors  were  opened. 

The  superstructure  was  let  to  one  of  the  lowest   bidders 
8 


114  .       HISTORY    OF    THE 

at  $15,600,  to  be  of  Hallowell,  Maine,  granite,  and  was  com- 
pleted July,  1878. 

The  limestone  work,  consisting  of  the  copings,  sidewalk  and 
terrace  wall,  was  let  shortly  after  at  $4984,  and  was  completed 
in  sixty  days. 

In  October,  the  writer  was  commissioned  to  execute  a  colos- 
sal statue  of  Douglas,  in  bronze,  to  surmount  the  monument, 
as  appears  by — 

This  agreement,  made  this  17th  day  of  October,  A.  D.  1877,  be- 
tween the  Commissioners  to  complete  the  Douglas  Monument  at 
Chicago,  of  the  first  part,  and  Leonard  W.  Volk,  of  the  city  of 
Chicago,  county  of  Cook  and  State  of  Illinois,  of  the  second  part, 
witnesseth: 

That  the  said  Leonard  W.  Volk,  for  the  consideration  hereinaf- 
ter mentioned,  agrees  to  execute  for  the  Douglas  Monument  at 
Chicago,  Illinois,  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  party  of  the  first  part,  a 
colossal  statue  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  in  standard  bronze  metal, 
not  less  than  nine  feet  high,  to  be  a  faithful  and  true  likeness  of 
said  Douglas  both  in  feature  and  in  form  throughout,  and  place  it 
on  the  column  of  the  monument  as  designed,  by  the  first  day  of 
June,  A.  D.  1878. 

And  said  Volk  also  agrees  that  the  model  for  said  statue  shall 
be  exhibited  to  said  party  of  the  first  part,  and  that  the  party  of 
the  first  part  shall  be  informed  of  the  formula  adopted  by  said 
Volk  for  the  bronze  metal,  and  that  said  party  of  the  first  part 
shall  be  satisfied  with  the  execution  of  the  model  and  with  the 
formula  adopted  before  the  casting  of  the  statue  is  attempted. 

In  consideration  whereof,  the  said  party  of  the  first  part  agrees 
to  pay  the  said  L.  W.  Volk,  upon  the  completion  of  the  statue  as 
aforesaid,  of  the  likeness  and  material  aforesaid,  and  the  placing 
of  the  same  in  positon  and  acceptance  thereof  by  said  party  of  the 
first  part,  the  sum  of  eight  thousand  dollars  ($8,000). 

In  witness  whereof,  the  parties  hereto  have  subscribed  these 
presents  (the  party  of  the  first  part  by  its  President  and  Secretary 
thereunto  duly  authorized),  the  day  and  year  above  written. 

THE  COMMISSIONERS  TO  COMPLETE  THE 
DOUGLAS  MONUMENT  AT  CHICAGO, 
BY  J.  D.  CATON,  President. 
M.  W.  FULLER,  Secretary. 
LEONARD  W.  VOLK. 


DOUGLAS   MONUMENT.  115 

Soon  after,  it  was  decided  by  the  Commissioners  to  remove  the 
limestone  tomb  or  substructure  built  twelve  years  before  and 
rebuild  it  of  granite,  utilizing  the  old  ashler  facing  for  the  in- 
ner walls.  Some  changes  were  made  by  reducing  the  diameter 
of  the  tomb  at  the  top,  and  omitting  the  arches  which  connect- 
ed the  octagonally  formed  buttrass-pedestals  at  the  four  cor- 
ners of  tomb  with  the  cornice,  substituting  square  ones  about 
half  the  height,  and  making  a  square  door-way  instead  of  the 
keyed  arch.  The  foundations  as  originally  constructed  were 
examined  by  experts  but  were  not  disturbed. 

On  Dec.  31,1877,  the  contract  for  the  renovated  substruct- 
ure was  let  to  the  lowest  bidders  at  $7893,  and  is  of  "Fox  Isl- 
and "  Maine  granite,  and  was  completed  in  June,  1878. 

The  statue  of  Douglas  was  hoisted  into  position  as  soon  as 
the  capstone  of  the  column  was  placed.  And  was  informally 
unveiled  July  17th,  in  presence  of  several  of  the  Commission- 
ers, the  only  sister  of  Senator  Douglas,  Mrs.  Granger,  who 
came  from  her  home  at  Clifton  Springs,  "New  York,  to  view  the 
work,  and  a  considerable  number  of  spectators. 

The  following  remarks  were  made  by  Judge  Caton  upon  the 
occasion: 

"  As  a  representative  of  the  Commission  appointed  by  the  State 
Legislature  to  execute  its  purpose  in  the  completion  of  the  monu- 
ment for  Senator  Douglas,  it  is  proper  for  me  to  say  that  we  are 
gratified  to  see  so  many  appear  here  to  witness  the  manner  in 
which  this  work  has  been  done.  We  have  assembled  here, — the 
Commission, — not  for  the  purpose  of  a  public  exhibition  in  any 
manner  or  form,  or  in  any  sense  of  the  word;  but  for  the  purpose 
of  examining  how  the  work  thus  far  has  been  executed.  It  has 
now  progressed  to  that  stage  when  you  can  see,  and  we  can  see, 
the  form  and  features  of  the  monument  erected  in  honor  of  Judge 
Douglas,  and  we  deem  it  proper  that  the  Commission  should  meet 
here,  for  the  purpose  of  examining  the  manner  in  which  this  work 
has  been  executed;  and  I  repeat,  that  it  is  a  matter  of  gratifica- 
tion to  see  so  many  of  the  citizens  -of  Chicago  spontaneously  met 
here  with  us  for  the  same  purpose.  I  may  be  permitted  to  say, 


116  HISTORY    OF   THE 

that  the  completion  of  this  work — so  far  as  the  monument  proper 
and  the  statute  are  concerned,  it  is  completed, — I  may,  I  say,  be 
permitted  to  say  that  the  completion  of  this  work  is  an  era  in  the 
history  of  our  State,  which,  some  of  us  at  least,  can  sensibly  feel. 
Seventeen  years  ago,  Judge  Douglas  was  taken  from  among  us. 
At  that  time  his  features  were  familiar  to  almost  every  man,  woman 
and  child  in  Illinois.  Since  that  time  a  new  generation  has  grown 
up,  strangers  to  his  features. 

They  all  knew  the  sound  of  his  voice  which  electrified  the  mul- 
titude; they  knew  the  expression  of  his  countenance  whence 
beamed  that  light  which  lit  up  the  great  multitudes  of  people. 
During  the  meantime,  many  of  these  have  passed  away,  and  a  new 
generation  has  come,  who  will  to-day  for  the  first  time  look  upon 
the  countenance  of  which  they  had  only  heard.  Standing  as  I  do 
in  this  position,  it  is  proper  to  say,  that  but  few  comparatively,  of 
the  contemporaries  of  Judge  Douglas  are  left;  the  most  dis- 
tinguished of  them  have  been  swept  away,  one  by  one;  and  why  a 
few  of  us  of  lesser  light  should  have  been  spared,  none  but 
Omnipotence  can  tell.  How  long  we  shall  follow  in  his  footsteps 
of  course  is  hidden  in  the  future. 

We  return  to  you  our  thanks  for  your  kind  attendance.  I  will 
now  proceed  to  uncover  the  statue,  that  all  may  look  on  the 
features  which  all  so  much  loved." 


In  August,  the  writer  entered  into  the  following  agreement  to 
execute  the  four  heroic  size  symbolical  statues  for  the  pedestals 
at  each  corner  of  the  tomb. 

This  agreement,  made  this  7th  day  of  August,  A.  D.  1878,  be- 
tween the  Commissioners  to  complete  the  Douglas  Monument  at 
Chicago,  of  the  first  part,  and  Leonard  W.  Volk,  of  the  city  of 
Chicago,  county  of  Cook,  and  State  of  Illinois,  of  the  second  part, 
witnesseth: 

That  the  said  L.  "W.  Volk,  for  the  consideration  hereinafter  men- 
tioned, agrees  to  execute  for  the  Douglas  Monument  at  Chicago, 
Illinois,  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  party  of  the  first  part,  four  stat- 
ues representing  "  Illinois,"  "  History,"  "  Justice"  and  "  Eloquence," 
iu  standard  bronze  metal,  not  less  than  seven  feet  high,  if  standing, 
but  to  be  in  sitting  posture,  each,  and  place  the  same  upon  four 
pedestals  at  the  four  corners  of  the  substructure  of  said  monument  by 
the  1st  day  of  May,  A.  D.  1879. 

And  said  Volk  also  agrees  that  the  model  for  each  of  said  statues 


DOUGLAS   MONUMENT.  117 

shall  be  exhibited  to  said  party  of  the  first  part,  and  that  said 
party  of  the  first  part  shall  be  informed  of  the  formula  adopted 
by  said  Volk  for  the  bronze  metal,  and  that  said  party  of  the  first 
part  shall  be  satisfied  with  the  execution  of  the  model  and  with  the 
formula  adopted  before  the  casting  of  either  of  the  said  statues  is 
attempted. 

In  consideration  whereof,  the  said  party  of  the  first  part  agrees 
to  pay  the  said  L.  W.  Yolk,  upon  the  completion  of  each  of  the 
four  statues  aforesaid  of  the  material  aforesaid,  and  the  placing  of 
the  same  in  position  and  acceptance  thereof  by  said  party  of  the 
first  part,  the  sum  of  sixteen  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars, 
being  the  sum  of  six  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  for  said 
four  statues  when  completed,  placed  in  position  and  accepted  as 
aforesaid. 

In  witness  whereof,  the  parties  hereto  have  subscribed  these 
presents  (the  party  of  the  first  part  by  its  president  and  secretary 
thereunto  duly  authorized)  the  day  and  year  above  written. 

THE  COMMISSIONERS  TO  COMPLETE  THE 

DOUGLAS  MONUMENT  AT  CHICAGO, 
(Signed)  By  J.  D.  CATON,  Pres. 

(Signed)  M.  W.  FULLER,  Sec'y, 

(Signed)  LEONARD  W.  VOLK. 

I,  Melville  W.  Fuller,  of  Chicago,  the  Secretary  of  the  Commis- 
sioners to  complete  the  Douglas  Monument  at  Chicago,  do  hereby 
certify  that  the  foregoing  is  a  correct  copy  of  the  contract  for  four 
statues  entered  into  between  said  Commissioners  and  L.  W.  Volk, 
and  voted  May  1st,  1878.  As  witness  my  hand  this  8th  day  of 
August,  A.  D/1878. 

MELVILLE  W.  FULLER, 
Sec'y  Commissioners  to  complete  Douglas  Monument  at  Chicago. 


Upon  the  assembling  of  the  legislature  in  the  winter  of  1879, 
the  Commissioners  forwarded  their  report  to  the  Governor,  stat- 
ing the  amounts  expended  from  the  appropriation  of  $50,000 
and  liability  under  contract  for  symbolical  statues;  and  that  in 
order  to  complete  the  four  bas-reliefs  as  originally  designed  for 
the  panels  of  the  base  of  superstructure,  and  also  to  substitute 
granite  in  place  of  the  old  limestone  steps  or  base  of  substruc- 
ture, $9,000  additional  to  the  $50,000  would  be  required. 


118  HISTORY   OF   THE 

Governor  Cullom  in  his  message  recommended  that  this  sum 
be  appropriated  for  the  purpose. 

The  following  bill  was  introduced  in  the  House  by  Mr.  Mo- 
ses Wentworth,  and  was  in  due  time  passed. 

An  act  to  appropriate  nine  thousand  ($9,000)  dollars  for  the 
completion  of  the  Douglas  Monument  at  Chicago.  That  said  Com- 
mission was  compelled  to  remove  and  rebuild  the  substructure 
thereof,  requiring  an  expenditure  not  anticipated  at  the  time  of 
the  passage  of  the  act  creating  said  Commission,  and  necessitating 
a  further  appropriation;  therefore, 

Be  it  enacted,  by  the  people  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  represen- 
ted in  the  General  Assembly,  That  the  sum  of  nine  thousand 
($9,000)  dollars  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby  appropriated  for  the 
completion  of  said  monument,  and  the  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts 
is  hereby  authorized  and  directed  to  draw  his  warrant  on  the  State 
Treasurer  for  said  amount  out  of  money  not  otherwise  appropria- 
ted, upon  the  certificate  of  a  majority  of  said  Commissioners,  from 
time  to  time,  as  the  same  may  be  needed. 

The  same  bill  was  presented  to  the  Senate  by  Mr.  Bash,  who 
in  a  speech  advocating  its  passage  explained  the  reasons  for  the 
appropriation.  It  was  defeated;  whereupon  Senator  De  Lany 
moved  a  re-consideration.  The  vote  resulted  in  a  tie.  Lieut. 
Gov.  Slmman,  the  presiding  officer,  voted  in  favor  of  re-consid- 
eration, and  the  discussion  of  the  bill  was  then  resumed,  which 
was  amended,  making  the  amount  $5,000,  and  then  it  was 
moved  to  refer  it  to  committee  on  appropriations.  Lost.  The 
Senate  again  refused  to  order  it  to  a  third  reading  by  a  vote 
of  21  to  22. 

Just  before  the  adjournment  in  May,  ex-member  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  Hon.  Jos.  E.  Smith,  who  introduced 
the  original  bill,  proceeded  to  Springfield  and  succeeded  in  get- 
ting the  House  bill  which  had  gone  to  Senate  committee  on 
i  appropriations  resurrected,  and  it  was  shortly  afterwards  passed 
by  the  Senate  and  approved  by  the  Governor  May  27th,  1879. 

About  July  22d,  the  first  of  the  four  statues,  representing 
Illinois,  was  successfully  placed  upon  its  pedestal,  and  on  Sep- 
tember 28th  the  second,  History,  was  put  in  position. 


DOUGLAS  MONUMENT.  119 

About  December  30th,  1879,  the  third,  Justice,  was  com- 
pleted and  seated  safely  upon  its  pedestal. 

Ou  July  24th,  1879,  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Board 
of  Commissioners  issued  an  advertisement  inviting  proposals 
to  complete  in  granite  the  circular  bases  or  steps  around  the 
tomb  in  place  of  the  limestone.  Three,  instead  of  the  seven 
original  steps,  and  curtailment  of  diameter  eight  feet  and  four 
inches,  having  been  previously  determined  upon,  the  contract 
was  in  due  time  let  to  the  lowest  bidder  at  $3,925,  and  com- 
pleted March,  1880.  All  the  granite  work  was  cut  at  the  quar- 
ries in  Maine. 

On  March  1st  of  same  year  the  last  contract  was  made  with 
the  writer  to  execute  the  four  Bas-reliefs  as  follows: 

This  agreement,  made  this  9th  day  of  March,  A.  D.  1880,  be 
tweeii  the  Commissioners  to  complete  the  Douglas  Monument  at 
Chicago,  of  the  first  part,  and  L.  W.  Volk,  of  the  city  of  Chicago, 
County  of  Cook,  and  State  of  Illinois  of  the  second  part,  Witness- 
eth  :  That  the  said  L.  W.  Volk  for  the  consideration  hereinafter 
mentioned,  agrees  to  execute  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  party  of  the 
first  part,  four  Bas-reliefs  in  standard  bronze  metal,  for  the  four 
panels  on  the  main  base  of  the  superstructure  of  the  Douglas  Monu- 
ment at  Chicago,  and  to  place  the  same  in  position,  all  to  be  done 
to  the  satisfaction  of  the  said  party  of  the  first  part,  by  the  first 
day  of  January  A.  I).  1881.  And  said  Volk  also  agrees  that  the 
design  as  well  as  the  model  for  each  of  said  Bas-reliefs  shall  be  ex- 
hibited to  said  party  of  the  first  part,  and  that  said  party  of  the  first 
part  shall  be  informed  of  the  formula  adopted  by  said  Volk  for  the 
bronze  metal,  that  said  party  of  the  first  part  shall  be  satisfied  with 
the  design  as  well  as  the  execution  of  the  model,  and  with  the 
formula  adopted,  before  the  casting  of  either  of  the  said  Bas-reliefs 
is  attempted. 

In  consideration  whereof  the  said  party  of  the  first  part  agrees 
to  pay  the  said  L.  W.  Volk,  upon  the  completion  of  each  of  the  Bas- 
reliefs  aforesaid,  of  the  material  aforesaid,  and  the  placing  of  the 
same  in  position  and  acceptance  thereof  by  said  party  of  the  first 
part,  the  sum  of  twelve  hundred  dollars,  being  the  sum  of  four 
thousand  eight  hundred  dollars  for  said  four  Bas-reliefs  when  com- 
pleted, placed  in  position  and  accepted  as  aforesaid. 

In  witness   whereof,  the  parties  hereto  have  subscribed   these 


120  HISTOKY  OF  THE 

presents  (the  party  of  the  first  part  by  its  committee  thereunto 
duly  authorized)  the  day  and  year  above  written. 

COMMISSIONERS  TO  COMPLETE  THE 

DOUGLAS  MONUMENT  AT  CHICAGO, 
BY  POTTER  PALMER, 
LYMAN  TRUMBULL, 
M.  W.  FULLER, 
ROBERT  T.  LINCOLN, 

Committee. 
LEONARD  W.  VOLK. 


The  last  of  the  statues  of  the  monument,  representing  Elo- 
quence, was  safely  placed  May  13th,  1880.  All  these  statues,  in- 
cluding the  Douglas,  were  first  modeled  in  clay  by  the  writer, 
in  Chicago,  and  approved  by  the  commissioners;  then  cast  in 
Plaster  of  Paris,  and  in  that  material  forwarded  to  the  bronze 
foundry  of  M.  J.  Power,  New  York,  who  has  cast  them  in  the 
best  bronze  metal,  i.  e.:  90  parts  copper,  8  parts  tin,  and  2 
parts  zinc. 

The  statue  of  Douglas,  which  is  9  feet  9  inches  high,  weighs 
about  2200  pounds.  The  four  symbolical  statues,  if  standing 
in  upright  posture,  would  be  about  7  feet  6  inches  high,  and 
average  weight  of  each  is  about  1150  pounds. 

DESCRIPTION    AND    DIMENSIONS  OF  THE    MONUMENT    AS    COMPLETED. 

The  octagonal  base  coping,  of  Lemont,  111.,  Limestone,  is 
70  feet  in  diameter.  The  first  of  the  three  circular  bases  of 
the  substructure  is  42  feet  2  inches  in  diameter,  and  the  height 
of  the  three  together  is  4  feet  3  inches.  The  tomb  is  octagonally 
formed,  20  feet  3  inches  in  diameter,  and  10  feet  high,  to  the 
plinth-base  of  superstructure.  Its  chamber  is  8  feet  9  inches 
square  by  7  feet  2  inches  high.  The  pedestal  at  each  of  the 
four  corners  of  the  tomb  is  6  feet  high,  with  base  4  feet  2  inches 
square.  The  octagonally  formed  pedestal  of  the  superstructure 
above  the  tomb  is  18  feet  10  inches  high,  to  the  circular  base 


DOUGLAS  MONUMENT.  121 

of  the  column.  Its  plinth-base  is  15  feet  in  diameter.  The 
length  of  the  column,  including  its  base,  which  is  2  feet  thick, 
is  46  feet  5  inches,  and  is  5  feet  2  inches  in  diameter  at  base, 
with  a  diameter  of  3  feet  6  inches  at  the  top.  The  cap,  includ- 
ing the  ornamented  frieze,  is  4:  feet  6  inches  high,  and  the  statue- 
base  above  is  2  feet  high,  making  the  entire  height  of  the 
monument,  including  the  statue,  95  feet  9  inches.  The  orna- 
mentation cut  in  the  granite  consists  of  a  wreath  and  the  letter 
<k  D  "  on  the  lintel  of  the  tomb  door.  There  are  raised  shields 
on  the  corners  of  the  main  base  of  superstructure,  the  pedestal 
of  which  is  ornamented  with  festoons  and 'wreaths  of  laurel, 
and  flambeaux  on  the  octagonal  corners — all  in  high  bas-relief. 

The  two  main  sections  of  the  column  are  marked  by  belts  of 
raised  stars,  indicating  the  number  of  states ;  and  the  frieze  of 
the  cap  is  encircled  with  oak  leaves  in  high  relief. 

Within  the  tomb-chamber  repose  the  remains  of   Senator 
,  Douglas,  in  an  iron  casket  which  is  placed  in  a  white  marble 
sarcophagus,  lined  with  lead.     The  following  inscription  is  let- 
tered on  the  front  side: 

"  STEPHEN  A.  DOUGLAS, 

"  BORN  APRIL  23n,  1813.     DIED  JUNK  So,  1861. 

"Tell  my  children  to  obey  the  laws  and  uphold  the  Constitution." 

The  marble  of  the  sarcophagus  is  from  his  native  State  and 
county — Rutland,  Vermont.  The  tomb  has  a  heavy  wrought- 
iron  grated  door,  with  padlock,  and  an  inner  iron  safe-door 
with  combination  lock.  The  entire  superstructure  of  the  mon- 
ument is  made  of  solid  blocks  of  granite  except  the  die  of 
pedestal,  which  is  in  four  parts,  and  has  a  small  hollow  space 
within,  containing  the  copper  box  of  records,  coins,  etc.,  which 
was  deposited  in  the  corner-stone  of  the  original  limestone 
tomb. 

The  faces  of  the  raised  shields,  stars  and  panels  are  polished 
or  glossed. 


122  HISTOKY  OF  THE 

THE   BRONZE    8TATUAKY. 

The  colossal  statue  of  Douglas  surmounting  the  top  of  the 
column,  looking  eastward  over  the  lake,  is  9  feet  9  inches  high, 
and  represents  him  standing  in  repose,  with  scroll  in  left  hand 
pressed  against  the  hip,  and  the  right  hand  thrust  under  the 
lapel  of  his  tightly  buttoned  under-coat. 

The  four  pedestals  at  the  base  are  occupied  by  heroic-size 
statues  representing  Illinois,  History,  Justice  and  Eloquence, 
in  sitting  attitudes;  the  former  has  her  right  hand  placed  on 
the  State  coat  of  arms,  with  ears  of  com  in  her  left  hand,  and 
crowned  with  a  chaplet  of  wheat,  and  is  supposed  to  be  in  the 
act  of  relating  the  story  of  the  State  to  History,  on  the  oppo- 
site corner,  who,  with  stylus  in  hand,  is  about  to  record  it  up- 
on the  scroll  lying  across  her  lap;  her  left  foot  rests  upon  a 
pile  of  tablets. 

Justice  rests  her  right  hand  upon  a  sheathed  sword,  and 
holds  the  balances  in  her  left.  Eloquence  points  with  her  right 
hand  towards  the  statue  of  Douglas,  while  the  left  rests  upon 
a  lyrical  instrument. 

All  these  statues  are  differently  composed  and  robed  in  har- 
monious and  classical  garments. 

The  four  Bas-reliefs  in  the  panels  of  the  main  base  of  super- 
structure represent  the  advance  of  civilization  in  America, 
first  by  an  Aboriginal  Indian  scene  in  which  appears  the  sun 
rising  above  the  horizon  of  a  lake,  upon  which  two  Indians 
are  about  to  embark  in  a  canoe;  wigwams,  with  squaws  and 
papoose,  and  an  elder  and  two  younger  Indians,  and  a  dog, 
the  elder  in  the  act  of  shooting  a  deer  with  bow  and  arrow. 

The  second  represents  Pioneer  Settlers  building  log  cabin, 
plowing,  sowing  grain,  and  a  group  of  mother,  children  and 
dog  resting  before  the  unfinished  cabin  and  the  "  Prairie 
Schooner"  wagon. 

In  the  third  scene  Commerce  and  Enterprise  are  represented, 


DOUGLAS   MONUMENT.  123 

by  trackmen  working  on  the  railroad,  a  locomotive,  vessels 
discharging  and  receiving  merchandise,  an  elevator  warehouse 
and  telegraph  line.  The  fourth  and  last  of  the  scenes  il- 
lustrates Education — the  culmination  of  civilization. 

THE   MONUMENT   GROUND 

Is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Woodland  Park  with  frontage  of 
260  feet. 

On  the  east  by  the  Illinois  Central  Railway  and  lake  Michi- 
gan, with  frontage  of  300  feet.  On  the  south  by  Douglas 
avenue  or  35th  street,  with  a  frontage  of  402  feet. 

And  on  the  west  by  an  alley,  and  the  width  of  the  lot  along 
this  alley  is  266  feet. 


RECAPITULATION   OF   COST  OF   MONUMENT. 


RECAPITULATION    OF  THE    COST   OF   THE    GROUND 
AND  MONUMENT. 

The  ground — State  appropriation $25,000 

Foundations  and  limestone  tomb — Public  subscriptions. .  .   12,350 

Drafting  and  superintendence — State  appropriation 300 

Limestone  copings,  sidewalk  and  terrace  wall — State  ap- 
propriation      4,984 

Superstructure,  Hallowell  granite — State  appropriation. . .   15,600 
Substructure,  four  pedestals  and  tomb,  Fox  Island  granite 

— State  appropriation 7,893 

Statue  of  Douglas,  in  bronze  metal — State  appropriation  . .      8,000 
Statues  of   Illinois,  History,  Justice   and   Eloquence,   in 

bronze  metal — State  appropriation 6,500 

Three  base-steps  around  tomb,  Fox  Island  granite — State 

appropriation 3,925 

Four  Bas-reliefs,  in  bronze  metal — State  appropriation. . . .     4,800 
Miscellaneous  expenses — grading  and  gardening  done  and 

to  be  done — State  appropriation ,f 6,998 

Total  expense  of  the  Douglas  Monument $96,350 


DOUGLAS'S  COTTAGE,  AND  THE  REGISTRY  FOR  VISITORS  TO  THE 
MONUMENT,  ARE  NUMBERED  36  DOUGLAS  AVENUE,  ADJACENT  TO 
TFTE  MONUMENT  GROUNDS. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 


30112050745139 


